I read a suggestion on another comments thread, that rather than do a coin toss you could give possession to the home team. Would add marginally to home field advantage and reward the better regular season team in the playoffs. Would also have all the benefits listed above of teams knowing what they need etc.

The only minor issue would be the Super Bowl but you could still do it on regular season record and if that's tied, I'm sure there's tie breakers that could be brought in.

That is how they do it in baseball.  I think home teams have enough advantages already.  Unless we're going to adopt college overtime rules which eliminate the advantage of going first, I'd really like to see who goes first decided by a quick athletic competition.  "Who can kick the farthest" seems like the quickest and most football-like contest to me.  Or you could stage some sort of sumo-like contest between two linemen.  Treat both men as ball carriers, first to be ruled "down" or "holding" loses.

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My fellow southpaw Mark Brunell will probably always be my favorite Jaguar.

THEREIN LIES THE INTRIGUE OF SUDDEN DEATH
Josh Allen made the call. He missed. KC could have just as easily been undone by a holding call on their drive to force a punt, or the kickoff return fumbled, or any other possible outcome that didn't result in a Kelce touchdown.

At some point, though, a winner has to be declared in a postseason game. Do you keep letting QBs match each other until the refs make an iffy call the deciding factor in whether your season continues? Or play your guys to exhaustion, and fall flat in the game that could put you in the Super Bowl?

Every body on that field knew exactly what they were dealing with. It was a hard fought game, and a tough loss to swallow, but that's the stuff that fuels a rivalry. All offseason that entire team will be motivated by one thing, and that is getting back to the postseason, and then they'll be busting their hump to get wins before the final bell. Because again they will know that everything can be won or lost based on how a medallion tumbles off of a referee's thumb.

Josh Allen is an elite athlete.  I want to see him win or lose based on his athletic efforts.  Not his ability to call a coin in the air.

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But how do you deal with the team that wins the toss, but elects to defer? You have four choices at the flip - kick, receive, defend a goal, or defer to the second half. Do they get to defer both second half AND OT? Now we're back to a coin flip giving an advantage.

I'd rather they just say at the end of regulation, treat the end of a quarter like the end of a quarter - switch endzones and reverse the field, play continues as normal. If a team was driving at the end of the game, they continue the drive in Q5.

You're overthinking it.  Forget about coin tosses. Forget about deferring. We are saying whoever got the ball first in the second half, does not get the ball first in OT.  Simplify it further.  Make the rule that the teams have to switch sides, or make the rule that they have to stay on the same side they were on in the 4th quarter.  Who will be on which side in OT, and who will get the ball, should be determined when the second half starts.  Not when OT starts.

Playoff OT is just a continuation of the game being played. At the end of two quarters, the team that lost the toss gets the option to kick, receive or defend a goal, unless the flip winner deferred.

So what you are saying
1) Coin flip to start the game. Winner elects to kick, receive, defend a goal or defer their choice until the half.
2) At the half, flip loser (or deferred winner) elects to kick, receive, defend a goal (or defer to OT? LOL).
3) If game goes to OT, whoever kicked to start second half automatically receives (would they not get opportunity to elect (kick/receive/defend)?)

So like someone else said, without the second coin flip, the first flip winner is likely always going to choose to receive instead of defer. Few, if any, teams elect to kick or to defend a goal. That way, the second half begins with the other team making an election, and again, rarely would they be dense enough to elect to kick or defend a goal.

So now, instead of two random events determining game outcome, you've reduced it to one. All you need to do is win one coin flip, and you ensure an advantage going into OT.

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Only 7 of those ten won on the first possession. So it's not nearly the jump you're saying it is.

This article cites 54% win rate for flip winners since regular season OT shrunk to 10 mins, but I haven't found a stat on how many of those wins were on the first possession. The same article also states that kicking teams have around 39% win rate since the OT was shortened in the regular season. 

So the difference from regular season to postseason is roughly 9% (54 to 63.63%), if we are crazy enough to assume that every regular season OT win was on the first possession.
36% of all postseason games have at least two possessions. That's practically identical to the regular season win rate for a coin toss loser; postseason OT coin toss is no less advantageous than in regular seasons. 

Let's also not forget that the visitor is the one who calls the toss. They are given the 50-50 shot to decide their own fate.

Fans might be more upset about one team not getting the ball, but logically we should be equally upset if the coin toss is influencing the outcome, regardless of how many times the ball changes hands.  Even if you only count games decided by a TD on the first drive, I think letting a coin flip increase your chances of winning from 37% to 63% is NUTS! This is an athletic competition.  Deciding who goes first by tug of war or arm wrestling would make more sense than a coin flip!

Where are you getting 37% chance of winning from??

The initial odds are 50%. Heads, or tails. The visitor gets the first chance to determine their advantage, if any. If they win that random event, they get to pick one of three choices that they believe is most advantageous for victory. If they do not, the advantage goes to the team that didn't even get a chance to make the call on the random event.

That's about as fair as you're going to make it without having some weird lottery drawing that chooses which team gets to make the choice.

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I just had another idea.  Change nothing about overtime, except replace the OT coin toss with a kicking contest.  The two kickers line up on the same goal line.  Whoever kicks the ball to a farther yard marker, gets the ball first.  Out of bounds kicks count as 0 yards.

coaches have to do the kick, though.
if we're tinkering with the system, let's go full chaos.

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Just play the full 15 minutes of overtime. Then 15 more if you need it. Until you don't.

So KC breaks one early, and then gets a pick six on the ensuing possession. Do we really need to extend the game 10 more minutes for the eventual outcome? Or, you end up with a boring slog as they grind out the clock in playing as safe as humanly possible to seal the win.

You'd rather have that punctuate a great game than the phenomenal catch Kelce made?

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Fans might be more upset about one team not getting the ball, but logically we should be equally upset if the coin toss is influencing the outcome, regardless of how many times the ball changes hands.  Even if you only count games decided by a TD on the first drive, I think letting a coin flip increase your chances of winning from 37% to 63% is NUTS! This is an athletic competition.  Deciding who goes first by tug of war or arm wrestling would make more sense than a coin flip!

Where are you getting 37% chance of winning from??

The initial odds are 50%. Heads, or tails. The visitor gets the first chance to determine their advantage, if any. If they win that random event, they get to pick one of three choices that they believe is most advantageous for victory. If they do not, the advantage goes to the team that didn't even get a chance to make the call on the random event.

That's about as fair as you're going to make it without having some weird lottery drawing that chooses which team gets to make the choice.

The 37% number is from the 11 playoff games that have been decided in overtime. It is the number of teams who lose the coin flip and then at least get a chance to go on offense in overtime

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My fellow southpaw Mark Brunell will probably always be my favorite Jaguar.

I read a suggestion on another comments thread, that rather than do a coin toss you could give possession to the home team. Would add marginally to home field advantage and reward the better regular season team in the playoffs. Would also have all the benefits listed above of teams knowing what they need etc.

The only minor issue would be the Super Bowl but you could still do it on regular season record and if that's tied, I'm sure there's tie breakers that could be brought in.

That is how they do it in baseball.  I think home teams have enough advantages already.  Unless we're going to adopt college overtime rules which eliminate the advantage of going first, I'd really like to see who goes first decided by a quick athletic competition.  "Who can kick the farthest" seems like the quickest and most football-like contest to me.  Or you could stage some sort of sumo-like contest between two linemen.  Treat both men as ball carriers, first to be ruled "down" or "holding" loses.

My other suggestion was essentially gonna kicking penalties like in English football. Just get the kickers to take turns kicking 50 yard field goals till someone misses

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That is how they do it in baseball.  I think home teams have enough advantages already.  Unless we're going to adopt college overtime rules which eliminate the advantage of going first, I'd really like to see who goes first decided by a quick athletic competition.  "Who can kick the farthest" seems like the quickest and most football-like contest to me.  Or you could stage some sort of sumo-like contest between two linemen.  Treat both men as ball carriers, first to be ruled "down" or "holding" loses.

My other suggestion was essentially gonna kicking penalties like in English football. Just get the kickers to take turns kicking 50 yard field goals till someone misses

American football has been more about touchdowns since the days of Walter Camp, maybe before that.  I want the game to end when the first touchdown is scored.  I just want a non random, athletic way to decide who goes first.
Remember the punt pass and kick competition?
Each team gets one try to see who can punt, pass, or kick the farthest.  
Or do all three, best two out of three gets the ball first. Have each punter, kicker, and QB line up at the goal line.
Spice it up a bit.  Send out receivers for all three.  A drop would count as zero yards.  Very quick.  Athletic. Non contact.

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My fellow southpaw Mark Brunell will probably always be my favorite Jaguar.

I don't really mind the rules as is.

I would also be good with a straight up 8 minute OT period. No sudden death.
If that ends in a tie, go to a "penalty kick" type of ending with field goals from 50 yards.
It is FOOTball after all, right? 
Would make for a fun new strategy adjustment in acquiring stud kickers in the offseason.

I’m with you on this. Just make it a 5th quarter and the team with the most points wins.

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Where are you getting 37% chance of winning from??

The initial odds are 50%. Heads, or tails. The visitor gets the first chance to determine their advantage, if any. If they win that random event, they get to pick one of three choices that they believe is most advantageous for victory. If they do not, the advantage goes to the team that didn't even get a chance to make the call on the random event.

That's about as fair as you're going to make it without having some weird lottery drawing that chooses which team gets to make the choice.

The 37% number is from the 11 playoff games that have been decided in overtime. It is the number of teams who lose the coin flip and then at least get a chance to go on offense in overtime

The coin flip is still 50-50. The winner of the flip is allowed to choose whatever they believe to be the greatest advantage to help them win. Each team has an equal chance at winning or losing the toss. and even at that, the loser of the toss gets to influence the outcome by making the second choice. So if a team wins and elects to receive, the loser decides which goal to defend, and in outdoor games, they'll pick the side with the worse weather conditions should it come to a placekick. 

I guess I am just less at issue with a random event deciding a game. I'm ok with some stories not having a happy ending. We could probably argue in circles for months on this, but thus far I haven't heard of a fairer way to determine the winner without unnecessarily prolonging an already long battle on the field. Allowing for FGs to be matched takes away the cheapness of a victory won by moderate offensive production or a random penalty shortening the field; but if you let a team march 80 yards on you, maybe you weren't the victor.

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The 37% number is from the 11 playoff games that have been decided in overtime. It is the number of teams who lose the coin flip and then at least get a chance to go on offense in overtime

The coin flip is still 50-50. The winner of the flip is allowed to choose whatever they believe to be the greatest advantage to help them win. Each team has an equal chance at winning or losing the toss. and even at that, the loser of the toss gets to influence the outcome by making the second choice. So if a team wins and elects to receive, the loser decides which goal to defend, and in outdoor games, they'll pick the side with the worse weather conditions should it come to a placekick. 

I guess I am just less at issue with a random event deciding a game. I'm ok with some stories not having a happy ending. We could probably argue in circles for months on this, but thus far I haven't heard of a fairer way to determine the winner without unnecessarily prolonging an already long battle on the field. Allowing for FGs to be matched takes away the cheapness of a victory won by moderate offensive production or a random penalty shortening the field; but if you let a team march 80 yards on you, maybe you weren't the victor.

Who can throw the farthest?  Each QB on the same goal line, which ball goes farther? Just as quick as a coin toss. More fair.
Or do the same thing with kicks.  Or punts.
Takes the same amount of time as a coin toss, and isn't random.

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My fellow southpaw Mark Brunell will probably always be my favorite Jaguar.

Just give both teams the guarantee of the ball once in overtime and then first team to fail to match the other teams score of any kind loses. It's the playoffs so who cares if the game has to go longer than tolerable in the regular season.

What would be crazy is if you gave the home team the ball first. That would be some crazy home field advantage

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like i said before if opposeing team wins coin toss,your defense just needs to stop then,and then you can win the game. Bengals lost coin toss today,thier defense got the int in overtime,and kicked a fg to win the game. 


Overtime dosn't need to change,teams defenses just need to step it up in overtime.

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snowwolf titans owner in madden.

note titans owner means im undeafted againest them. 

Well, this thread aged well (only took 1 week), Lol!

Guess what,
- KC got the ball first
- Bengals Defense came up huge with a stop/turnover
- Bengals drive and kick a FG for trip to the Superbowl

Poor KC, and suck it Buffalo (supposed to be the best defense in the conference?).

OT rules are just fine.

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Well, this thread aged well (only took 1 week), Lol!

Guess what,
- KC got the ball first
- Bengals Defense came up huge with a stop/turnover
- Bengals drive and kick a FG for trip to the Superbowl

Poor KC, and suck it Buffalo (supposed to be the best defense in the conference?).

OT rules are just fine.

After last night, the team that wins the toss won 10 out of 12 games.  That's far from "just fine."

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My fellow southpaw Mark Brunell will probably always be my favorite Jaguar.

Well, this thread aged well (only took 1 week), Lol!

Guess what,
- KC got the ball first
- Bengals Defense came up huge with a stop/turnover
- Bengals drive and kick a FG for trip to the Superbowl

Poor KC, and suck it Buffalo (supposed to be the best defense in the conference?).

OT rules are just fine.

After last night, the team that wins the toss won 10 out of 12 games.  That's far from "just fine."

Nice partial stat.

How many won by a touchdown with their first possession?

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The coin flip is still 50-50. The winner of the flip is allowed to choose whatever they believe to be the greatest advantage to help them win. Each team has an equal chance at winning or losing the toss. and even at that, the loser of the toss gets to influence the outcome by making the second choice. So if a team wins and elects to receive, the loser decides which goal to defend, and in outdoor games, they'll pick the side with the worse weather conditions should it come to a placekick. 

I guess I am just less at issue with a random event deciding a game. I'm ok with some stories not having a happy ending. We could probably argue in circles for months on this, but thus far I haven't heard of a fairer way to determine the winner without unnecessarily prolonging an already long battle on the field. Allowing for FGs to be matched takes away the cheapness of a victory won by moderate offensive production or a random penalty shortening the field; but if you let a team march 80 yards on you, maybe you weren't the victor.

Who can throw the farthest?  Each QB on the same goal line, which ball goes farther? Just as quick as a coin toss. More fair.
Or do the same thing with kicks.  Or punts.
Takes the same amount of time as a coin toss, and isn't random.

Don't be fatuous.

Do you honestly think the league is going to decide a game on a next-to-zero skill event?
Regardless of the coin toss outcome, both teams still have to take the field and perform to get the win.
I mean, if you just want to decide an outcome, two balls in a hopper, lotto style. first ball out wins. FOOTBALL AT ITS BEST

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Who can throw the farthest?  Each QB on the same goal line, which ball goes farther? Just as quick as a coin toss. More fair.
Or do the same thing with kicks.  Or punts.
Takes the same amount of time as a coin toss, and isn't random.

Don't be fatuous.

Do you honestly think the league is going to decide a game on a next-to-zero skill event?
Regardless of the coin toss outcome, both teams still have to take the field and perform to get the win.
I mean, if you just want to decide an outcome, two balls in a hopper, lotto style. first ball out wins. FOOTBALL AT ITS BEST

Over the top rope Battle Royale?

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like i said before if opposeing team wins coin toss,your defense just needs to stop then,and then you can win the game. Bengals lost coin toss today,thier defense got the int in overtime,and kicked a fg to win the game. 


Overtime dosn't need to change,teams defenses just need to step it up in overtime.

It was perfectly fitting that they lost the chance to go to the SB on the exact same condition as happened last week.

@It's almost as if the league scripted it that way.@ (sorry, I just had to!)

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Well, this thread aged well (only took 1 week), Lol!

Guess what,
- KC got the ball first
- Bengals Defense came up huge with a stop/turnover
- Bengals drive and kick a FG for trip to the Superbowl

Poor KC, and suck it Buffalo (supposed to be the best defense in the conference?).

OT rules are just fine.

After last night, the team that wins the toss won 10 out of 12 games.  That's far from "just fine."

But now the "scores a TD on first possession" is down to 7/12, only 58.3%, which shows that as sample size grows, the percentage is regressing to the mean (54%).

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Who can throw the farthest?  Each QB on the same goal line, which ball goes farther? Just as quick as a coin toss. More fair.
Or do the same thing with kicks.  Or punts.
Takes the same amount of time as a coin toss, and isn't random.

Don't be fatuous.

Do you honestly think the league is going to decide a game on a next-to-zero skill event?
Regardless of the coin toss outcome, both teams still have to take the field and perform to get the win.
I mean, if you just want to decide an outcome, two balls in a hopper, lotto style. first ball out wins. FOOTBALL AT ITS BEST

I think you misunderstood.
My idea is to replace *only the coin flip* with a quick skill competition.
They would still play regular 11 on 11 football after that, with first TD wins.

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My fellow southpaw Mark Brunell will probably always be my favorite Jaguar.