Only in the Playoffs Has New Meaning
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By: Sef Gold The playoffs: A time where stars shine and the best teams face off in epic battles that will be remembered forever in football history. Now, it also includes playing the game of football by a slightly adjusted set of instructions. While there are no fundamental differences, the procedures for winning in overtime will change during post-season contests. At first glance it has sparked an outrage. How can any rules of the game be changed between the regular season and the playoffs? The reason is player safety. A 60-minute game of NFL football already involves multiple injuries and each additional play allows for another injury. If the new rule applied to the regular season and a team's best player was injured during the extra plays, fans of that team would be infuriated and demand a change. At the current point in time, the idea of adding the overtime change to the regular season is being examined. While this would bring a uniform set of rules to every game, it would be inconsistent with the new league policy of looking at each decision through the lens of player safety. In addition, the new rule adds to the playoffs by making a team have to win the game on both sides of the ball. It will be interesting to watch how this affects the 12 teams who will face off next January for the Lombardi Trophy. E-mail Sef: sef@afcnorthtalk.com
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