The NFL's Not-So-Sudden Death Wish

We'll take a look at things like Martinsville and Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s NSFW tirade tomorrow. But first, the National Football League borrowed a metaphor from another sport and threw everyone a curveball.

A day earlier than a vote was even expected on the matter, the NFL owners voted 28-4 to alter the overtime rules for playoff games. Rich McKay called the new rules "modified sudden death," but that's like saying "mostly dead," and I'm hoping that phrase is completely dead soon.

(Why are these new playoff rules relevant at a Web site that deals with fantasy football? Because the owners will vote in May on applying the same rules to the regular season.)

Lots of people have criticized the old way the NFL decided tied games. The main complaint was crystallized in January in the NFC championship game, when the New Orleans Saints beat the Minnesota Vikings and Brett Favre never touched the ball in overtime. People were hoping that the new rules would fix that problem.

Wrong. There will be plenty of scenarios in which that can happen again. Here are some of them. (And since the Saints-Vikings game is so fresh in everyone's thoughts, we'll use it for our examples.)

Scenario 1: The Saints win the toss and elect to receive. The Saints return man makes a single Vikings special teamer stumble, runs past him and takes the ball to the end zone. The Saints win the game, and Brett Favre never touches the ball.

Scenario 2: The Saints win the toss and elect to receive. Sean Payton, playing by the new rules, decides that he doesn't want to settle for a 45-yard field goal, since he figures a defense that just gave up 30 or so yards isn't going to suddenly turn into the Steel Curtain now. The Saints finish their scoring drive with a touchdown, the game is over, and Brett Favre never touches the ball.

Scenario 3: The Saints win the toss and elect to receive. However, this time, instead of driving forward, they stumble backward, so much so that the Vikings sack Drew Brees in the end zone, scoring a safety. The Vikings win the game, and Brett Favre never touches the ball. (In this case, he's probably cool with that.)

Scenario 4: The Vikings win the toss this time and elect to receive. Only Sean Payton elects to not give them the ball. The Saints execute an onside kick to perfection (where have we seen that before?), take the ball down the field, and kick a field goal.

So would the Vikings then get a chance to tie? No. Mark Maske of the Washington Post explains why:

"Also, the team kicking off could recover an onside kick in overtime and drive to a field goal, and the game would be over because its opponent had the opportunity to possess the ball. The NFL released a lengthy list of odd overtime scenarios, all boiling down to the fact the rule is based on the opportunity to possess the ball, as with the onside kick scenario."

In other words, the game is over when the Saints kick the field goal, and Brett Favre never touches the ball.

Think these scenarios are far-fetched? Once upon a time, you probably thought the idea of an onside kick in the Super Bowl -- let alone the Saints' presence in one -- was far-fetched, too.

Disagree with that assessment? Feel free to leave a comment and tell me why.

Random Pre-Daytona Thoughts

There's still time to vote in our polls on who gets into the People's Pitstop lineup for the Daytona 500. The polls will close Saturday night. In the meantime, here are some thoughts to tide over fans of fantasy racing.

Green, white ... oh, wait, start over. NASCAR may be the only body in professional sports that changes its rules in the week before its regular season starts. The latest change involves the "green-white-checkered" format for overtime racing. Instead of giving the drivers only one chance at a "green-white-checkered" finish, NASCAR now will give them up to three chances to get it right.

Drivers and crew chiefs are less than pleased; Jeff Gordon said, "All you're going to do is set yourself up for another wreck. You give us two laps out there under green and we're going to find a way to wreck." Right, like drivers need an excuse to wreck at Daytona.

If it's Wednesday, this must be Showtime. NASCAR has listened to the complaints of folks who said Michael Waltrip wasn't getting nearly enough camera time. This season Showtime will air the weekly show "Inside NASCAR," featuring one talking head (Chris Myers), one reporter (Randy Pemberton), one team owner/former NBA All-Star (Brad Daugherty) and one driver (Waltrip).

Two things struck me as I watched the initial episode Wednesday. First, having no crew chief, active or otherwise, on the set is a bit like having an NFL pregame show without a former coach. Second, given Waltrip's 33rd-place finish in last year's Sprint Cup standings, shouldn't he be spending a little more time working on his cars and a little less time in the television studio (especially if they are going to tape your show in Charlotte while you're qualilfying in Daytona)?

The weekly reminder that we follow fantasy football, too. It's been less than a week since the New Orleans Saints shocked a good portion of the football world by winning the Super Bowl. But that doesn't mean it's too early for fantasy football players to start thinking about their drafts this summer. In fact, the Sporting News has already published rankings to help you decide important things like, say, which receiver you should draft in the fifth round.

We'll be back tomorrow night with results from our polls. Vote now, please.