Sports that allow ties:
Cricket.
Soccer.
Amateur hockey.
T-ball.
The National Football League.
Yes, the NFL is in good company, and on Sunday night we saw the result: Green Bay Packers 40, Dallas Cowboys 40.
A tie.
A half win, a half loss. Blech.
The tie was about as confusing and unsatisfying as “The Departed,” a movie that ends with everybody shooting each other in the face.
Wait, that’s it!? Who won!?
Remember when you endured the “Lord of the Rings” and “Star Wars” movies and hours later you realize there is no ending and the whole point was to set up a sequel.
It was kind of like that on Sunday night.
If the NFL had made “Apollo 13,” it would’ve ended the movie just as the space capsule re-enters the earth’s atmosphere. There’d be no parachuting safely into the ocean to applause, just thousands of people staring into the sky, anticipating … waiting …
Every good story needs a proper ending, and the NFL didn’t deliver it Sunday night. Millions of viewers sat spellbound as the Cowboys-Packers drama unfolded for three and a half hours. The teams passed for a combined 656 yards and six touchdowns (0 interceptions). They scored 80 points. There were seven lead changes in the second half. They were tied after regulation play. The game went to overtime. Millions of viewers were on the edge of their seats.
Who would win!?
No one. Sorry, folks, that’s it. Good night. Drive safely.
It was like watching Pavarotti stop in the middle of the crescendo and walking off stage.
Thanks for watching.
In case you had forgotten, NFL rules allow one 10-minute overtime period to break a tie, and if the game is still tied at that point, well, it ends in a tie. The Packers-Cowboys showdown was the 30th game to end in a tie since the NFL adopted overtime in 1974 — and the first since 2022.
Let’s face it: The NFL just can’t get the overtime format right, even after 105 years in business. It took league rule makers 54 years before they adopted overtime to settle ties and then nearly another 40 years before their overtime rules allowed both teams to have at least one possession. And still, they allow ties.
It’s not as if the NFL has to reinvent the wheel — there is a perfectly good model being used by the college game that the league could adopt.
College football’s overtime format is perfect. There is no game clock. Both teams get an equal number of possessions. The first possession for each team starts at the opponent’s 25-yard line. If the teams are still tied after the first possession, they are each given a second possession at the 25, but if they score a touchdown they must attempt a two-point conversion rather than an extra point. If they are still tied after two possessions, both teams alternate two-point conversion attempts until a winner is determined.
It’s fair. It’s simple. It’s dramatic. It ends with a winner.
The NFL apparently is too proud to borrow something from the college game and actually believes its format is better.
Meanwhile, everyone feels cheated, even the players.
“I’ve never been a part of a tie in my life,” said Cowboys wide receiver George Pickens. “I didn’t even know football worked like that. I thought we’d just start another quarter right now and keep going.”
“It’s not a win. It’s not a loss. But it don’t feel good,” Packers defensive end Rashan Gary told CBS.
Dallas quarterback Dak Prescott put it this way, “ … it’s hard to wrap my head around this. I’d feel a lot worse if it was a loss. But I’m not satisfied … it’s just a weird feeling.”
Overtime games are great drama — but the ending needs a lot of work.