Apparently, Philadelphia Eagles QB Donovan McNabb didn't know you could tie in the NFL:
"I've never been part of a tie. I never even knew it was in the rule book. I was looking forward to getting the opportunity to get out there and try to drive to win the game. But unfortunately with the rules, we settled with a tie."
I was flabbergasted when I heard this. I'm not sure when I first became aware of that particular NFL rule, but I'm sure I had yet to finish elementary school at the time. For a QB in the NFL to not know the rule is incredible, and not in a good way.
And, the relative infrequency of this result leads me to believe that the current system is fine. If you don't score in the 15-minute period, you don't really deserve to win. The Eagles had three full possessions in OT: (1) 4 plays, 19 yards, (5) 5 plays, 9 yards and (3) 3 plays, 9 yards. The Eagles turned the ball over 4 times and converted just 3 of 18 3rd downs (although, they were 1 for 1 on 4th down). They averaged less than 6 yards per pass and less than 4 yards per rush against the previously 1-8 Bengals.
If you want to argue that it's not fair if you don't get a chance to play offense in OT, fine, I'll listen. But, if you want to argue that you should just keep playing ... no way. Ties are a part of football. There isn't any reason they shouldn't be. It's not inequitable to only give teams 15 extra minutes to score. Get a few first downs and get in FG position!
All that being said, this was an awful result for the Eagles. They'd be tied with the Redskins and Cowboys at 6-4 if they had defeated the Bengals. Oops. Now, they're a half game back. They're 1.5 back of the Bucs and 0.5 back of the Falcons from the NFC South. So, rather than being 1 game back of one team and tied with 3 others in the NFC Wild Card race, they now sit in 5th place in the race for 2 spots.
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I would simply like to attest to Evan's knowledge of the tie rule in elementary school. I can still remember a recess game where the bell rang when we were tied and people were yelling that we needed to finish the game because the game can't be tied and we were all as gently corrected by our own Mr. Tromble as one could be in fifth grade.
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