Sporting events should never end in a tie, especially the NFL

This Sunday, during week six of the football season, we saw the year’s first tie. In a hotly contested game between the Carolina Panthers and Cincinnati Bengals, the game ended in a tie at 37 after neither team was able to secure a lead at the end of overtime.

Mike Nugent may be the only player or fan that was happy the game ended in a tie on Sunday, because realistically, no one likes when a game ends in a tie. Nugent, the Bengals kicker, missed a chip shot 36-yard field goal that would have sent Cincinnati off victorious. Instead the Bengals were forced to extend their record to another column adding a “1” in it.

Oct 12, 2014; Cincinnati, OH, USA; Cincinnati Bengals kicker Mike Nugent (2) looks on before the game at Paul Brown Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mike DiNovo-USA TODAY Sports

A few seasons ago, the NFL executives decided on a rule change that would end sudden death in overtime if no touchdown was scored and only a field goal was made. So, when Nugent kicked the first field goal of overtime and made it, the game would’ve been over. However, the new rule allows for the Panthers to have an opportunity to match or win. Thus, thats what happened when Graham Gano matched Nugent and nailed a 36-yd field goal.

The game was in a tie at 37 and both teams had a chance with the ball, both kicking and making field goals. Cincinnati drove the ball downfield with less than two minutes left in overtime, giving Nugent the chance to win the game. Of course, you know the rest and thus the game ended in a tie after one overtime.

The rule change that occurred two years ago was necessary. It made the game more fair as it gives both teams a chance in overtime. Originally, teams would rely on guessing whether the coin flip would reveal heads or tails. The team that lost the coin flip would have increased pressure as they tried to keep the other team far enough away that they couldn’t make a field goal. Trying to keep a team from reaching your 35-40 yard line is very tough in that situation, which involves high levels of adrenaline.

Personally, I believe the rules should allow both sides a chance even if the first scores a touchdown. Both teams should always have a chance in the first overtime. However, giving each team a chance to kick a field goal is a good start.

Now to the fact that the game can actually end in a tie. Yes, it is possible as seen Sunday. Don’t worry if you didn’t know because apparently Carolina’s rookie wideout Kelvin Benjamin didn’t know either. After the game, Benjamin told the Charlotte Observer he wasn’t aware a game could end in a tie.

“I didn’t know you could tie in the NFL” — Kelvin Benjamin

A game should never end in a draw. For the sake of the fans and the players, both want closure and neither wants to end with a tie after playing for 75 minutes. Thus, with the help of some, I have come up with a couple of suggestions.

First off, the teams could continue to play for another 15 minutes in a sudden death format until someone scores. At this point, whoever had the ball at the end of the first overtime would retain possession. Yet, this would be tough. After hitting one another for 60 minutes, the last thing players want to do is hit each other for another 15 minutes or more.

A second option would be to give both teams a chance running a two-minute drill type of drive. Teams would again be involved in a coin toss and the winning team would have the choice of going first or second on offense. Details would need to be specified, however, it would go something like this.

Each team would have one possession, starting at their own 20-yd line. With only one timeout, the team would be required to drive the ball down field in hurry-up offense format.

Situations:

• Team 1 takes the ball downfield and successfully kicks a field goal, Team 2 would need to at least match them for the game to continue. If Team 2 were to score a touchdown on their drive, Team 2 would win.
• Team 1 marches downfield and scores a touchdown, again Team 2 would need to match in order to continue, or Team 1 wins.
• If Team 1 loses the ball via a turnover, their drive is over and Team 2 takes over with the chance to end the game with either a field goal or a touchdown.
• Lastly, if no one scores, the team that gained the most yards during their possession would be the victor.

I know that is a lot to handle, so just take a minute to read it over and make sense of it. Decide what your opinion of that would be and feel free to make any suggestions that you feel would be an improvement.

The last option, would likely be a lot of fun for fans and make field goal kickers a very highly paid athlete. Option #3 is indeed a field goal kick-off. Similar to a shootout in hockey or soccer, kickers would be required to kick five times, yet each would come from different distances. Starting with a 35-yd field goal, each following kick would be five yards farther back: 40, 45, 50 and 55 yards each being straight away.

The team’s kicker that makes the most, is the team that wins. In the instance that both kickers make all five field goals, they would enter into sudden death kicking from distances between 40-60 yards away with the ball being placed on either the right or left hash marks.

All three options are highly viable, but they also need some specifications regarding the details. Perhaps you could come up with a fourth option that combines numbers two and three to choose a winner. Or maybe you have another suggestion that is completely different, either way we should all be able to agree that tying is not the best way to end a game.

To make an amendment to the suggestion above if the kickers both make all five of the first field goals and are still tied; instead of taking kicks from the hash marks compared to straight away they could continue to move back. Perhaps kicks such as 60 yards, 63 yards, 65 yards and as the video showed above, even 70 yards is possible.