HOUSTON Congratulations to the New England Patriots. They earned every bit of theiramazing, 34-28 comeback victory in Super Bowl 51.Over 63 minutes and 58 seconds, they were the better
Cameron Wake 2018 Game Jersey team than the Atlanta Falcons, through the through, answering a 21-0 deficit with a 34-7 run.But the first Super Bowl overtime game in NFL historyalso needs be the last that ends soabruptly.The only thing that could have made it a greater Super Bowl ... was more Super Bowl. The league shouldamend itsregular-season overtimerules when its championship is at stake.MORE: 5 acts of Falcons' historic chokeIn the
Kiko Alonso Jersey end, the Falcons did notreally deserve to win that game. But they at least deserved to touch the ball once in overtimeafter an ill-fated coin flip.We get why the NFL is happy with its"if the team with the initial po se sionscores a touchdown theywin the game" rule, atwist awayfrom true sudden death in every game not named the Super Bowl.During the regular season, it's hard enough for players to recover for the next week after having played only regulation. That's even more the case when the next game comes on a Thursday or Saturday.But there's no next game after theSuper Bowl,
Limited Ryan Tannehill Gray Jersey not until September. That's why it's OK togo for thelong haul and adda full "fifth quarter." If you don't have a winner after those 15 minutes, go for another 15.Given how much the Patriots dominated the second halfand rolled to victory in OT, there's agood chance they still would havewon the game even iftheFalcons had won that lastcoin flip.WATCH: Top plays of Super Bowl 51Is there a perfect solution for football overtime? Absolutely not. Balancing length of game concerns with afairformat is impo sible. There are major flaws inboth the relatively new NFL system and thegimmicky, alternating, short fieldcollege setup.The keyis to find the sweet spot. With the Super Bowl, the NFL can go marathon. Heck, the gamealready is a
Jay Cutler Jersey lot longer with ahalftime that
DeVante Parker Jersey lasts double the time of a normal one.The Super Bowl always provides drama and excitement, and our first taste of OT in the big game was fantastic ... but more so for the Patriots'in achieving that result than how the final TD was scored. Extending the time likely would nothave taken anything away.The Falcons, with a long offseason ahead,can wonder what could have been. But thenext team in their cleats at least needsto be able totouch theball in overtime of the Super Bowl.
Pinnwand