# NFL to consider nine-point touchdown? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [March 19, 2015, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-to-consider-nine-point-touchdown/715356 "2015-03-19T03:45:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Little\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c57346/32.png) [@Little\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Pig)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2015, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-to-consider-nine-point-touchdown/715356/21 "2015-03-19T19:57:55Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > What the Colts really needed was a 50 point touchdown rule, to give themselves a chance in the playoffs against New England. The Colts just picked up running back Frank Gore from the 49ers. Expect a better running game next season. ---
**Author:** ![Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freddy_the_Pig)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2015, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-to-consider-nine-point-touchdown/715356/22 "2015-03-19T21:19:16Z")
> [@Do\_Not\_Taunt](#): > > Totally agree. Why is this being considered? Does the NFL have to consider any half-baked idea proposed by a team? Yes. ---
**Author:** ![racepug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f1d935/32.png) [@racepug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racepug)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2015, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-to-consider-nine-point-touchdown/715356/23 "2015-03-19T21:35:49Z")
> [@Do\_Not\_Taunt](#): > > I hate the college OT system. First, it’s still a huge advantage to go second, and secondly, yeah, it’s just red zone. Why is that good? Of course they have the whole game to play football. If that ends tied, why shouldn’t they play football in overtime too? Basketball overtime isn’t settled as a slam dunk competition. > > Totally agree. Why is this being considered? Does the NFL have to consider any half-baked idea proposed by a team? I don’t like the college O.T. system, either (and I’ve generally been more a fan of college ball than of pro ball for several years, now). I don’t really mind that it’s different than the N.F.L. system but what DOES bother me about it is the yard line where the teams start each overtime session from. This is 2015 (well, okay - it was 1996 when the N.C.A.A. abolished ties), not 1950: in my view the teams should be made to “work for it” a little more than they are now. Have 'em start at the 35-yard line or the 40 instead of the 25. I mean, if one team has a better FG kicker than the other then starting from the 25-yard line almost ensures a win by the team with the better FG kicker. As for the pros, I never liked the “sudden death” aspect so I’m glad they decided to modify it. As of right now I think I like the pro version of overtime better than the college one. ---
**Author:** ![Tread](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/53a042/32.png) [@Tread](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tread)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2015, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-to-consider-nine-point-touchdown/715356/24 "2015-03-19T23:17:56Z")
OR… after a successful 2 pt conversion, move the ball to the 35 yd line, and kick an additional point after… and keep on doing it until you miss, … that way, when your team is down 235 to 161 in the final minute you still have a chance. ---
**Author:** ![Mince](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecd19e/32.png) [@Mince](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mince)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2015, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-to-consider-nine-point-touchdown/715356/25 "2015-03-20T12:00:56Z")
Well, it’s been a long-running dilemma for the NFL to appease a perceived majority of fans who want increased scoring, while maintaining the integrity of the game. A 9-point TD is brilliant because it does both! Hell, make a TD worth 400 points and shut those fans up forever, or at least until they weary of 2,206-1,952 scores, while watching exactly the same gameplay. ---
**Author:** ![MaxTheVool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2015, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-to-consider-nine-point-touchdown/715356/26 "2015-03-27T01:57:12Z")
I’m not a particular intense football fan, but I think this rule is very interesting. Generally speaking, more options is a good thing. If you’re going to have the weird-ass point-after-touchdown rule in the first place, you might as well have one in which there are a variety of different choices that are correct in a variety of different situations, rather than just one that is almost almost almost always right. ---
**Author:** ![Rucksinator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/898d66/32.png) [@Rucksinator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rucksinator)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2015, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-to-consider-nine-point-touchdown/715356/27 "2015-03-27T19:45:10Z")
> [@Little\_Pig](#): > > The Colts are offering [this up.](http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/football/bears/chi-nfl-nine-point-touchdown-20150318-story.html) Let’s hear it, what else could be proposed to f@ck up this game even more? I don’t think it’s a terrible idea. All it does is give teams more of an incentive to go for a 2-point conversion. It makes the scoring more consistent. Allow me to attempt to defend this and explain: In football, carrying the ball over the goal line is worth twice as much as kicking it through the goalposts, plus a chance for extra points. Kick the ball through, get 3. Run it over, get 6, PLUS a chance to do the same again for 1/3 the value. If you run it over again, it makes sense that you should continue having the option of kicking an extra-extra point that would be worth 1/3 of a point or running it yet again for 2/3 of a point, and so on until you can not longer run it in anymore, or you opt to kick, ending your points-after-kick. Since the above would be impossible without retrofitting every scoreboard with the ability to display fractions, this proposal makes the scoring more consistent without being too complicated (seriously, this isn’t all that complicated). Sincerely, Satan’s advocate [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-to-consider-nine-point-touchdown/715356.md?page=1)