Heck, make it for the regular season, too. Give us more football!!

This one has never been proposed? Yeah it's so revolutionary.....*slaps head*

Just make is so that the first team to score 4 points wins. That simple.

Any change is long overdue in the NFL....I like the idea of playing it like an extra quarter as they do now but just ensuring that each team receives at least one possession.

There is nothing wrong with the way the OT rules are now. For goodness sakes, play some dang defense and shut up. Field goals are not gimmes, and I'm pretty sure that teams winning the coin toss have a 50:50 chance of winning the game, so it's not like there is a problem.

Think of it like this .. You kickoff to the other team in OT, they have a decent return to the - 26 but there is a 10 yard penalty, now the team is at the 36. One completion of 15 yards, the team is at midfield. One face mask on a 5 yard run, the team is at the 30. One good fieldgoal kick and the game is over, on 2 offensive plays.

Penalties are often subjective and controversial, and in OT they can be way too much of a factor. Right now you may say, 'play defense and sound footballand you'll win the game,' but if it were the Phins who were held out of the Superbowl due to some iffy call we'd be going bananas.

Yeah, I'd be going bananas if they were horse crap calls, but on the same hand you can't give up a 15 yard completion. Also, after being penalized twice, giving up a 26 yard return, a 15 yard pass play and a 5 yard run, they are STILL kicking a 48 yard field goal...and that's no gimme.

Do it like college just start at the 50

After 4 quarters of play things can get sloppy, players can lose a step. Imagine if your defens was just on the field for 7-8 minutes getting pounded by the run to tie it and go into OT, then you lose the coinflip and your D goes right back on the field. You're gonna give up chunk plays, you're gonna hold or possibly grab a facemask, it happens when you're worn out. And while 48 yards is no gimme kick, it also isn't winning in a convincing manner and leaves a lot of room for doubt.

If your defense just got pounded for 7-8 minutes to give up the tying score, you don't deserve to win anyway.

Even if you have peyton manning, reggie wayne, and dallas clark sitting on the bench?

Theres 3 parts to every team, and sometimes the flaws of one part are overshadowed by the greatness of another, and it isn't fair that a coin toss will decide which part of your team gets tested.

You're right, there are 3 parts to every team....you put a defense out there to stop the other team. If they are getting run over for 7 minutes straight to send it to OT why should you get to whine about things not being fair? The other team beat you, fair and square. The rules shouldn't be bent just so a team that has flaws has another chance to win.
It's sudden death, and teams that win coin toss win just as often as the teams that don't...it's fair enough as is.

If you're concerned about OT because your defense sucks, don't get to OT. It's really that simple.

We'll agree to disagree. Maybe when we get to the level of some of these other teams and one or two bad plays/bad calls costs us a playoff game without our offense getting on the field you'll see the other side of things.

Yea, I agree that the current format is weird. I like the one with the first to score 4 points, which requires an actual touchdown or if you get a FG the other side gets a chance. I would have to see it implemented because if the current setup has a pretty even win/lose ratio in relation to winning the cointoss, well then this could skewer it rather unfairly. OT sucks, anyway :/

The other side of things includes teams that can't play defense. If you want a pass happy, score happy league, then watch Arena Football. In this league, you have to play defense when it matters. There are hundreds of examples of teams that won in OT even though they lost the toss...heck, the only OT game Miami has played in with Sparano was a loss even though Miami won the toss. Games are NOT decided on the coin toss, but with the play on the field.
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_percent_ ... in_the_NFL

Take what you will from that source, but 72 % of the time, BOTH teams get possession of the football in OT. The team winning the coin toss wins 52% of the time.
St. Louis and Carolina went to 2 OT's in the playoffs...you want to tell me that the greatest show on turf can't be stopped in OT? Play defense, win games.
Green Bay lost in the playoffs because of an interception, and on the flip side they beat Seattle on an interception in OT in a Wild Card game.

I could keep going, but the other side of things needs to sit down and look at the stats, and quick jumping off the bridge everytime the team that wins the coin toss actually wins.
Minnesota had their chance...plenty of them, to win that Championship game. If you or anybody wants to say that they lost because of the overtime rules, they must not have realized that Minnesota had 6 turnovers, including one at the end of the game when they were in field goal range and could have won it.

I was at ESPN the Weekend on Saturday and this same question came up during a Q + A session. They players all agreed that they liked the OT the way it was.

The article cited showed that 72% of the time, BOTH teams got the ball. Yet, the way people talk about it, it seems like the coin toss winner wins the game 99% of the time. This is a classic example of people going with their emotions and ignoring facts. I'm so tired of people complaining about this rule.

Also, this is an example of people not wanting to take responsibility with anything. It's always someone else's fault. Minnesota didn't lose to the Saints, it was due to that darn overtime rule! How about a team plays DEFENSE and makes a stop. Yeah, its a new, universal concept.

You mean, I need to be blinded by emotion to my team? You're telling me Miami has never lost an OT game (in which they didn't get the ball) before? Please.

Not only that, but don't turn it over 6 times. Even with 5 turnovers they had an opportunity to win it in the end, but Favre threw it away with a throw across his body to the middle of the field...something all quarterbacks learn not to do in Day 1 of high school.