Football overtime--what do you prefer?

The Game Room
61

Ignorance fought.

I foolishly thought that 82 points was what a .500 team would get, and of course more than half the teams make the playoffs (16 of 30) so there’d always be someone in with 82 points. Looking over last year’s standings, it’s clear that the Overtime Loss points greatly skew the point totals.

If there were only wins and losses, there’d by 2460 total points earned league-wide, and a perfectly average team (.500) would get 82. (2460 / 30)

Last year there were 2761 points earned league-wide, meaning the perfectly average team (.500) would get 92 points. And since more than half the teams make the playoffs, 92 points should easily make it. While 92 points would have just missed the Western Conference playoffs by 1 spot, it would have beaten out three teams in the Eastern Conference playoffs to sit comfortably in the 6 seed.

With 301 Overtime Loss points last year, the extra 10 points per team is what makes a winless 82 point team unlikely to make the playoffs.

62

Other.

Play it like college, but don’t start at a specified spot on the field. One team gets a drive and then the other team gets an answering drive. If they’re still tied, play another round. In regular season games, if the teams are tied after 15 minutes of OT, the game is a tie. In the playoffs, continue until a winner is determined.