NFL overtime proposal

The NFL Competition Committee is planning to vote on a new overtime format. Currently NFL OT games are decided by sudden death, no matter how the points are scored.

The new rule is a little confusing, and I haven't been able to find a full description of it. It has been described as "first team to 6", but I'm not sure that's correct. If the first team with possession scores a TD, then its game over. If they score "only" a FG, then the other team gets a chance to match that or better it. If they tie it, then the game reverts to sudden death.

There's an instant problem here: the team which has to tie it then has to give the ball back to the first team (at least that's how I read it). So really in that situation nothing has changed from a Sudden Death format. Sure there's the element of strategy in going for the win if possible, but it doesn't seem like it would come up that often.

I also can't figure out what happens if neither team scores on their possessions, or if the first team doesn't score and the second team does. Based on what I read the answer is a reversion to Sudden Death.

Another thing I don't like is that this rule applies only to the playoffs and the Super Bowl. There's already the subtle difference in the Playoff OT rules in that there cannot be a tie, so the game keeps going until a score. But besides that, why should there be a difference in basic rules? A football game is a football game, and with the league so tight now games in the regular season are often critical in determining who gets to the playoffs and who is left out. If you're gonna change the rule, make it for all games, or don't change it at all.

I actually might be in favor of a "first to" style overtime rule, but with one tweak. It shouldn't be first to 6, it should be first to 5. That way a FG alone doesn't win it, a TD does, and the combination of a safety and FG also wins it. And I think that's more than fair. If a defense can earn a safety and get the ball back for their offense, who then scores a FG, that should be enough to earn a W.