If the team that gets the ball first in an overtime scores a field goal, the team that gets the ball second gets four downs to score.
QUESTION1: If the team that gets the ball first doesn’t score and the team that gets the ball second scores a field goal, does the team that got the ball first get four downs to
score or did it have its chance?
QUESTION 2: If the team that gets the ball first scores a touchdown, the other team doesn’t get four downs to tie (as it would if the first team had scored a field goal instead of a touchdown). What’s the logic behind the second team not having a chance to match the first team’s touchdown?
QUESTION 3: If the first team scores a field goal and the second team scores a touchdown with their four downs, is the game over and the second team wins 6 (or 7) to 3?
First of all, it’s not correct to say that the other team gets “four downs to score”. They get to possess the ball as long as need be to score; giving up possession ends the game if the opponents scored a field goal.
The logic behind the rule is as follows:
If a team scores a touchdown with the first possession in overtime, then the defense had the chance to stop them, and failed. Failing to stop the offense from scoring a touchdown becomes a fatal failure. But if the team with first possession only scores a field goal, then the defense did it’s job (mostly), and now their offense should get to see what it can do.
The way to think of it is this way:
The overtime is sudden victory. Whoever scores first, wins.
There is one simple exception to this rule: if the first possession of the ball ends in a field goal by the team possessing it, then the other team gets a crack at trying to tie-up or win the game. At that point, the game proceeds normally. If they fail to score, game over, they lose. If they score a field goal, game continues until someone scores again. If the score a TD, they win at once (no extra point is attempted).
It should be noted that overtime in the NFL is “sudden death” – the way that it was originally designed was purely “the first team to score in overtime wins.” This meant that, if the team which received the opening kickoff of overtime scored by any method (including a field goal), that team won, and the team which kicked off to start overtime never got a shot at possessing the ball.
The NFL adjusted the rule several years ago, as they saw that the team which received the opening kickoff of overtime was winning the large majority of overtime games. They were usually winning via field goals, and the fact that kickers have gotten substantially more accurate (and from further out) over the past few decades was undoubtedly a factor in that.
So, the rule was changed, to more-or-less what you quote. As DSYoungEsq notes, it’s not that the second team gets “four downs.” The way to think about it is this: under the current overtime rules, both teams are guaranteed to get at least one possession in overtime, unless the team which gains the initial possession in overtime scores a touchdown on that possession.
Those details aren’t quite right (the “four downs,” as noted above, and the score doesn’t get reset to 0-0 at the start of overtime), but yes, that’s the basic idea. If the first team with possession during overtime scores a field goal, and the second team scores a touchdown, then the second team does win.
One other thing. In the regular season, if no one has scored or if each team made a field goal on their first possession and there is no other scoring, and the period ends, the game is tied. In the playoffs, they will start a new period as many times as needed until someone finally scores.
Another recent change is that during the regular season, overtime has been reduced from 15 to 10 minutes and if the score is still tied, its a tie/draw. As pointed out before, in the playoffs overtime is 15:00, but if the game is still tied, the clock is reset and the game played in 15:00 quarters until the score is resolved.
Why don’t they just have a truncated period of play, like say a 10 minute quarter or two halves of 7.5 minutes? Like in Soccer.
Whoever is ahead after that time, wins.
I’d argue that soccer is just as exhausting (maybe more so, as there no platoons), and I like the idea of a fixed OT with whoever is ahead at the end winning the game.
Under NFL overtime rules first adopted in 1974, the first team to possess the ball in overtime wins immediately if they score a touchdown, and the team that kicks off to them at the beginning of overtime wins immediately if they score a safety. There have been only three walkoff safety wins in overtime in NFL history:
Minnesota Vikings 23, Los Angeles Rams 21 (November 5, 1989)
Chicago Bears 19, Tennessee Titans 17 (November 14, 2004)
Nonsense. There’s no indication that such happens when overtime goes the full allowed period, or, in the playoffs, goes longer than the normal period. Americans just prefer sudden victory in football for reasons of excitement.
Some nitpickery - during the regular season, if the team which first possessed the ball scores a field goal just as the 10 minute clock elapses, the 2nd team does not get a possession. And if the first team scores a field goal, and the 2nd team gets the ball but the clock expires during their possession, the first team wins.
During the playoffs, if the first team gets a field goal, the second team gets a full possession, even if the 15 minute clock expires. The game doesn’t end until/unless the second team scores a TD, has a turnover, or loses possession on downs.
Another clarification: in the regular season, the overtime period is treated like the fourth quarter, including a 2-minute warning, except that each team has 2 timeouts. In the postseason, it is as if the game has started over; each team has 3 timeouts over the length of the first two OT periods, and there is no 2-minute warning in the first OT period, although, if the game lasts that long, there is one in the second OT period.
With all due respect to soccer (BIG fan) there is an average of 7 injuries per NFL game v 2.2 for soccer; even when adjusted for roster sizes when you consider NFL players wear helmets, pads and only play 16 games a year it’s easily a much more dangerous sport. A soccer style overtime would be disastrous in American football.
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Both codes of Rugby use a “soccer style” extra time. Of its still even, then they have attempted trys (Union) or sudden death (League).
Plus, the point is that it would be employed for stuff like knock out games or Finals (which would be Playoffs and the Super Bowl I would guess).
