Should Field Goals Be Banned In NFL Overtime?

No one will doubt the talent of today's NFL players. They play one of the most grueling games on earth and do so twenty times a year, including pre-season. Should one of these games be tied at the end of regulation, a sudden death overtime will occur. This sudden death shares the same principle as any other sport: first score wins, period.

However, overtime in football is still rather lacking compared to that in the NHL and other leagues that employ the sudden death overtime format. The reason for this: FIELD GOALS. There is just something lacking about a hard fought football game which essentially ends anytime a team advances the ball past their opponent's 40 yard line.

Field goals have their place in the game. It is pretty exciting when a great coach and quarterback manage the clock perfectly to give their placekicker a shot at winning the game with 3 seconds on the clock. It is my opinion that a team should earn their victories in the NFL and making a team score a TD to win fits better with the sport.

Of the top 22 placekickers in the 2009 season only Garrett Hartley attempted at least one 50+ yard field goal and made 0%. The rest vary greatly in success from 33% to 100% but every player who has attempted at least one field goal over 50 yards has made one. In the 40-50 yard range, the numbers drastically improve. Kickers are just too good now to continue ending games in this way.

Since 1994, the team that won the coin toss of the game has won on the first possession nearly 35% of the time.  The NFL has recently tweaked the overtime rules for the playoffs. The new rule will give the ball to the opponent should a team kick a field goal on first possession following a coin toss win. This rule is a step in the right direction, but only applies to the playoffs and still allows field goals after the first possession.

It is time for teams and not kickers to earn overtime victories.