Was the Super Bowl rigged? The NFL's stupid overtime rule reinforces that belief

… dumbest rule in football 

The purpose of writing this is not to assert that Super Bowl LI was rigged. The intent is to show how stupid and unfair the NFL overtime process is.

If you attend a high school game in Pa. or a college game in the U.S., they have a very equitable way of settling ties that the NFL does not.

For instance, in college, each team will have a chance to score from the 25-yard line. After a flip of the coin, the winner will choose offense or defense, and the other will then have a chance to have its opportunity after the first one is finished.

In short, both teams have an equitable chance to touch the ball and win the game.

The same occurs in high school ball in Pa. except that it is from closer to the end zone.

NFL rule is stupid

According to the NFL overtime rule, if a team wins the toss, receives the ball, and scores a touchdown on the opening drive, the game is over -- without the opposing team having a chance to touch the ball.

That is unfair -- and dumb.

If the first team scores a field goal, the other team has a shot to either tie or score a TD.

So, in the Super Bowl, the Patriots won the toss, took the ball for a touchdown on that first drive, and the Falcons never had a chance to touch the ball in overtime.

Ridiculous. Who ever heard of anything so dumb?

The Falcons had led the game for 45 minutes, had the league MVP, and had a shot to score a TD too if they had a chance to touch the football.

They did not.

That is outrageous and unfair.

Overall

I am not trying to demean the victory in the Super Bowl. It was what it was. Atlanta blew it, plain and simple.

I never watched the game, so I cannot make any analysis like that.

However, when a team blows a 28-3 third-quarter lead in a game in which perhaps a billion dollars was wagered, and then the other comes back to win because the other team never had a chance to touch the ball in OT -- then that raises suspicions that the game was fixed.

I am not alleging that. Nevertheless, when a supposedly major league has such a stupid and unfair rule, then it should consider a change.

This is not the first time that this has occurred in the NFL playoffs, but it is the first time it has in the Super Bowl.

Cardinals vs. Packers, 2016

In the NFC Divisional round last year, Arizona defeated Green Bay in OT, 26-20, and the Packers never had a chance to touch the ball in OT.

Same situation, just earlier in the playoffs.

The Cardinals scored a TD on their first possession, and Aaron Rodgers never had the opportunity to work his magic.

Rodgers had forced the OT with a crazy, 55-yard Hail Mary pass that tied the game at 20-20.

"It also seemed cosmically wrong for Rodgers to not even have the chance to touch the football in overtime," ESPN commentator Scott Van Pelt said.

He continued, "Make the process equitable. This isn't at all complicated. Use Saturday night, let's say, as the template. Arizona gets the ball and they score a touchdown. Well done. But why should that end the game? Because it's a touchdown? That's awfully arbitrary — they scored, super. Simple tweak of the rules leads to a kickoff to Green Bay, with the Packers required to answer or the game ends. If they do answer with a score, then the game immediately becomes sudden-death."

That sounds too simple.

Use version of college rule

Van Pelt did not believe that the NFL should copy the college rule because it is "entertaining, but not football."

Baloney. Move the ball back to the 50 if you like, but use the same approach. By the time of OT, players are dead tired. This will shorten the process. Both teams touch the ball, and the winner takes the trophy.

This way, those conspiracy theorists who believe the Patriots again cheated and the game was fixed are made to look logical.

Truth be told, I cannot argue with them this time.