NFL tables OT overhaul, bans Oklahoma drill

NFL overtime rules will be unchanged for the 2019 season, the competition committee declared Wednesday in Key Biscayne, Fla., at its annual May meeting. A proposal by the Kansas City Chiefs received considerable attention, and commissioner Roger Goodell welcomed a debate he said should continue with a particular focus on changes to OT for playoff games.

Competition committee chairman Rich McKay said the proposal, which guarantees both teams one possession in overtime, will be revisited next year by NFL owners. Current rules allow for the team receiving the ball first in overtime to score a touchdown and end the game.

The impetus for the Chiefs' plan was an overtime loss to the New England Patriots in the AFC Championship game in January. In that game, the Patriots won the coin toss, and Tom Brady engineered a 13-play, 75-yard drive then ended in a Rex Burkhead touchdown and a New England trip to the Super Bowl. The NFL also announced it would ban teams from using several well-known one-on-one drills from practice and training camp, including the popular Oklahoma Drill and the Bull in the Ring. Each simulates one-on-one play between either a pair of linemen or a blocker and would-be tackler. Eliminating the drills is intended to reduce incidences of head injuries during contact portions of practice.

A committee was formed and met in Atlanta last month to discuss which drills to eliminate to reduce helmet-to-helmet contact on the practice field. --Field Level Media