When the Eagles last played an overtime game, against the Bills during the 2023 season, Philly benefited from the regular-season rule that guarantees a possession for the team that kick offs to start overtime — if the team that receives scores a field goal. The Eagles now want the guaranteed possession for the kicking team even if the first drive of overtime results in a touchdown.
We addressed the issue earlier today, making the point that the potential expansion of regular-season overtime to up to 15 minutes shows that the concerns that fueled the 2017 shrinkage of regular-season overtime to 10 minutes (propping up and protecting Thursday Night Football) no longer apply.
The proposal, which seemed last month to be destined to be made by the Competition Committee and not by any one team, isn’t expected to result in a significant uptick in snaps, if passes. Per a source with knowledge of the situation, the Eagles believe the adoption of the postseason two-guaranteed-possessions rule along with a 15-minute overtime will add only 30 plays per year.
The extra plays will happen only if/when a game goes to overtime and the team that receives the opening kickoff scores a touchdown on the first drive.
But what about the possibility of a pair of touchdowns and a third drive? It’s believed that the team that scores a touchdown on the second drive of overtime will go for two in lieu of giving the other team an opportunity to win the game with a field goal. So there typically won’t be a third drive, if the first two result in touchdowns.
That’s the ultimate attraction of tweaking the rule for the regular season. Eventually, a game will come down to a two-point conversion that will determine the game.
And the wind seems to currently be blowing in the direction of the proposal passing, with regular-season overtime matching postseason overtime, but for the fact that in the regular season there can indeed be a tie.
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