The NFL usually does what it
wants
Khalen
Saunders Jersey Womens , and the Competition Committee doesn¡¯t seem to
want any tangible advice from those who aren¡¯t actively employed by a football
team to do football things about football. Because football. But that¡¯s never
stopped me from offering advice on how to make the game of football better, so
why start now?The Chiefs¡¯ proposal to adjust overtime to ensure that both teams
get a possession even if the first team to possess the ball scores a touchdown
absolutely should be adopted. Two of the last three seasons have seen the
Patriots win a coin toss in a championship-level game, drive the length of the
field, score a touchdown, and walk off a winner ¡ª while the current league MVP
(Matt Ryan in 2016 and Patrick Mahomes in 2018) ¡ª had to sit and watch it all
happen.The changes to overtime made after the Saints beat the Vikings with a
first-possession field goal in overtime of the 2009 NFC Championship amounted a
half-measure, a Band-Aid. A partial solution that acknowledges the unfairness of
the situation but fails to completely eradicate it.So eradicate it now. It¡¯s
simple, it¡¯s easy, and it¡¯s the right thing to do. (Also, it gives the many
teams who resent the success of the Patriots a
way
Khalen
Saunders white jersey , albeit miniscule, to stick it to them.)And here¡¯s
the other side of the compromise, the one that would help to avoid the dreaded
¡°unintended consequences,¡± which seems to be code for ¡°we don¡¯t want to do this
and we don¡¯t want to tell you why, so we¡¯ll just hide behind a fancy-sounding
term¡±: For the regular season, go back to sudden death.I never had a problem
with sudden death in the regular season. That¡¯s where the ¡°hey if you can¡¯t win
in 60 minutes, it¡¯s on you¡± argument is a lot more persuasive, and where the
urgency to get the games over with takes on greater importance, especially if
one of the teams in a Sunday game will be playing on the following Thursday.The
change made in 2010 got jammed onto the regular season because coaches wanted to
have the exact same rules for the regular season and the postseason.
(Apparently
Khalen
Saunders Kansas City Chiefs Jerseys , they¡¯ve been getting their
information about regular season and postseason overtime from Donovan McNabb.)
But there¡¯s no good reason to have the same rules, because the unfairness of
sudden death becomes particularly unfair only when a season is on the line.Sure,
the unfairness argument could be made for Week 17 games that have playoff berths
hinging on them, but that¡¯s still nothing remotely similar to the idea that a
berth in a Super Bowl or a Super Bowl championship can be secured by winning a
coin toss and using rules that systematically have been skewed toward offense to
drive down the field and score a touchdown.So there it is. A perfectly fair and
appropriate compromise to the overtime conundrum. One that will be summarily
ignored. Last year the Patriots lost a Super Bowl when Tom Brady threw for 505
yards and three touchdowns with no interceptions, thanks to the defense failing
to stop the Eagles¡¯ offense. That was the story of the season in New England,
when the offense was great but the defense couldn¡¯t hold up its end of the
bargain.This season has been different: Tom Brady¡¯s stats declined in 2018, but
the defense was better. New England improved in defensive DVOA from 31st last
season to 16th this season. By yards per play allowed, New England improved from
30th to 19th. By takeaways, New England improved from 25th to sixth.Last year¡¯s
Patriots defense forced 19 turnovers in 19
games
Kansas City
Chiefs Jerseys 2019 , counting postseason. This year¡¯s Patriots have
forced 30 turnovers in 17 games, even though turnovers league-wide were slightly
down this season.Takeaways will be particularly important on Sunday against the
Chiefs in the AFC Championship Game. When the teams met in the regular season,
Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes had a lot of big plays, but the Patriots also
intercepted him twice, and New England won the game. It¡¯s hard to picture last
year¡¯s Patriots forcing those interceptions and beating an offense as good as
Kansas City¡¯s.The defensive improvement is a credit to linebackers coach Brian
Flores, who took over many of the coordinator responsibilities when Matt
Patricia became head coach of the Lions after the Super Bowl. Flores is expected
to become the Dolphins¡¯ head coach after the Patriots¡¯ postseason run ends, and
the way the Patriots¡¯ defense has performed this season suggests that the
Dolphins found themselves a good coach.