NFL will review overtime rules

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NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said today that the league will take a hard look at how overtime games are decided, including a possible rule that would prohibit games from being decided by a field goal on the opening drive of the extra period.

‘It’s been considered before, and I’m sure it will be considered among the alternatives,’ he said. ‘There are other ways of addressing the field goal on the first drive, and I think it’s something the competition committee needs to consider.’

Historically, 30% of overtime games were decided when the team that wins the coin flip scores on its opening possession. But in recent years that percentage has risen to about 47%.

‘I think that’s significant,’ he said. ‘It’s something our committee needs to look at. When you couple that with the fact that our field-goal kickers are much more accurate than they have been in the past, that’s a danger.

‘We have talked about different concepts, and the committee will discuss this.’

-- Sam Farmer