PHOENIX, March 26 (UPI) -- Overtime will remain the same in the NFL and a decision on expanding the playoff field has been put on hold.
Altering the overtime rules and increasing the postseason participants from 12 to 14 teams were the hot topics for discussion during the NFL meetings, which concluded Wednesday. But one was rejected and the other was tabled.
A proposal to give each team the ball in overtime fell seven votes shy of passing. Needing 24 of 32 votes, the overtime change received 17 votes. There were 14 votes against with the Oakland Raiders, as they often do, abstaining.
Since overtime was instituted in 1974, a coin toss has determined which team gets the ball. The club that scores first wins. Under the rejected proposal, a two-possession system would have given both teams a chance to score.
Last year, the NFL had a record 25 overtime games. Ten of those were decided on the first possession and 15 were won by the team that won the coin toss.
"I think a lot of the owners decided to wait to see if a trend continues," said Buccaneers General Manager and Competition Committee Co-chairman Rich McKay. "Many were concerned that the first possession is too much of an advantage, but almost as many believed now is not a time for a change."
Adding a playoff team in each conference did not even come to a vote, but will merit further discussion in the May meetings in Philadelphia.
"We had a healthy debate on that and want to discuss this a second time in May," McKay said.
The NFL realigned to eight four-team divisions last season with the division winners and two wild cards in each conference advancing to the playoffs.
The league has expanded from 28 teams in 1994 to 32 with last year's addition of the Houston Texans, but a 12-team playoff field has been in effect since 1990. The proposed format would have had seven playoff teams in each conference, giving a bye to only the team with the best record. The division winner with the second-best record would play the third wild card team instead of receiving a bye.
The most radical change at the meetings came Tuesday, when the league announced that officiating crews which grade the highest will be used in postseason games. Until now, playoff crews were made up of officials who rated the highest at their positions.
The proposal was developed by the officiating department in an attempt to create more cohesion among the game officials in the postseason.
The top-ranked crew will work the Super Bowl in 2004 and the second- and third-rated crews will be assigned to the conference championship games. Previously, the top-rated officials, even if they were from separate crews, were assigned to playoff games.
