It has Gone Over My Head

..How over time is still following the format that it does. It seems that luck is the main deciding force in a game of football tied after 60 minutes, with only a poor offense or shut out defense being able to turn the tables.

Now I know I’m no expert in the way the NFL works in the offices or the possible benefits of having a “golden goal” format for over time, but even I and many other fans, players, coaches, officials, owners, reporters, photographers, cheerleaders, commentators and pretty much everyone else can see that it is in a dire need for change. 

Just in case you Mr. Commissioner Roger Goodell happen to be reading this and you are stuck for ideas, here are some of mine:

• Go with the NCAA, they know what they are doing! Sudden death actually works; it highlights the strengths and weaknesses of each team. College coaches get the opportunity to show the true potencies of their game plans and great plays, so why can’t the NFL head coaches?
• Bowling. Yes I did steal this off the NCAA game series but I would love to see this in a game. If you’re not familiar, each team has 10 attempts, with two downs in each attempt, from the ten yard line to get into the end zone. This would ensure a high octane over time with lots of scoring whilst also allowing the teams to show their red zone consistency. However this may be impractical due to the time it would take up or it may be deemed “immature”, “childish” or “un-formal” by I say screw you, it would be amazing.
• Penalties? I don’t particularly like soccer (Or “proper football” to my fellow Brits) but if there had to be one thing I liked about it, it would be penalties. In the NFL there could be two ways of doing this, the first being have the kickers take kicks from increasing distances and the first player to miss loses the game. Or every player on the team could take a kick from 30 yards away with the highest scoring team wining. Not persuaded? Imagine a 360 pound lineman running up for a kick. Mind blown.
• Maybe each team could take the field for one play each starting where the other left off, meaning that the winning team would be the owner of the more consistent defense proving that defense wins games. This would keep the players and coaches on their feet having to think fast and furious about what formations would be best suited for their situation However, one of the NFL’s worst traits would make this impractical; the time taken for teams to switch from offense to defense.
• You could just save some time and leave it down to coin toss, or if you are feeling rebellious have a cheeky thumb war?
• A draw is a draw Why does there need to be A winner, why not let it go down as a draw and spice up the league table and race for playoff spots?
• Multi-ball? 4 centers, 4 backfield blockers, 3 quarterbacks, maybe a cheeky punter, and 5 receivers. Carnage? Yes. Epic? Yes.
• Finally, a serious suggestion. (Not that the others wouldn’t work or be hilarious) Have each team have a set number of drives to get to the end zone but only allow 45+ yard field goals to stop petit last chance scores. This allows teams to both: make up for a previously game losing freak-of-nature-mistake and maintain the fairness and consistency that we need.

So now you have seen how easy it is to come up with a different system for overtime that can bypass the problems present; you are probably wondering why the NFL still hasn’t changed anything.

 Aren’t we all?

2 years ago  /  2 notes

MV for MVP?

Michael Vick, probably one of the most controversial players in the NFL today, but has he changed? Is he becoming a NFL quarterback? Does he deserve the MVP award?

In his eighth year Vick is creating sparks with his career high 103.6 pass rating per game and his 6.7 average on rushing attempts but is he really the player that every team needs to have on their roster?  

Sure the man can probably run the whole length of the field without being touched or throw the perfect bomb whilst running on a bootleg, being chased down by 3 linebackers, but there is little sign of the mentality needed in the perfect NFL quarterback.  

Does a team want the guy who dropped out during his second year in college to go into the draft even though the development gained from the coaching in his sophomore year would probably have been much more beneficial than the 2 games he started in 2008 for the falcons? Or do they want the guy injured frequently by not thinking or, in one case, somersaulting into the endzone? Or maybe they could even want the man who spent 21 months in prison and has faced over 10 criminal accusations. Peeeeretty sure they don’t.

However there has been … some … sign of improvement. The QB has begun to utilise his weapons such as DeSean Jackson, Jeremy Maclin and LeSean McCoy and has begun to realise that whilst the Eagles do depend on him to win, it is still a team sport. Andy Reid is also said to have tried to coach Vick into trying to throw the ball more instead of relying on his legs to help him escape pressure and the other day in an interview I even heard Vick say:

“Yeah I put the ball in a great little case and he made a great play.”

 …Did he just say something… quarterbacky..?

This just goes to show what happens when the seemingly egoistical eagle takes time to think about what he is doing as this perfect throw lead to the 91-yard TD from D-Jax. Maybe next year a perfect balance could be found between the Randall Cunningham approach to football and the Dan Marino way of doing things, or maybe he could revert to the injury and crime prone, lone wolf in the team causing chaos for coaches.

Either way Vick has the skill set needed to be one of the best but in the end it all comes down to who he is, and the mentality he uses to play the game.

Oh, and he looks like Chris Rock.

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2 years ago  /  2 notes

The Beginning of Something New..

…ish.

So I thought that I would actually do something with my Tumblr account, instead of sitting on my laptop looking at other peoples updates about life and write about something i actually love..

Football.

“If you aren’t going to go all the way, why go at all?” - Joe Namath

2 years ago  /  0 notes