Osi, New Overtime Rules, and Feathers Coming Off of Iggles

My grandfather used to say, “Smile and the whole world smiles with you.” Well, it look like Osi Umeniyora is smiling (while at this week’s first off-season’s voluntary workouts) and Giants fans are smiling back. “Osi Watch” is officially over, though we reserve the right to once again keep an eye on Osi and his moods (I know, he is a little moody, but what are you are gonna do, right?).

The reality is that if the Giants pass rush (and defense) is going to impact games positively, Osi has to play bigger in 2010 than he did while coming off of knee surgery in 2009. Sure, Justin Tuck is a complete end who plays hurt, plays hard, and can line up at both tackle and end, but Osi is just as valuable off the edge (I only hope someone puts Osi in a room with film so he can watch what happens when he takes too wide of a stance off the edge and the Giants are either gashed in the run game or on passing plays, the quarterback simply steps up in the pocket for a clear throwing lane; to be fair, if Canty and company are doing their job in the middle, some of these issues are relieved). Anyway, nice to have Osi back, for now at least.

Many of you have been clamoring for more info on the proposed/approved and likely to be set in motion new overtime rules (applying to both regular season and in the playoffs). Here is the deal: If the team that wins the coin toss scores a field goal, the team that loses the coin toss gets the ball back for a chance to tie or win the game. The proposal passed with a vote of 28-4 and for the moment, is only applicable to playoff games, though there are strong indications that the new overtime rule will be adopted for regular season games as well, despite the protests from several NFL coached, including Sean Payton of the SuperBowl winning Saints (no sympathy given here).

Do we like the new rules? For my money, I think this is a step in the right direction and perhaps a happy compromise, but I would have preferred to have simply extended any tie game at the end of the 4th quarter to an additional quarter of football (or leaving the rule alone all-together because if your defense can’t make a stop, you don’t win the game, this is football, after all). That being said, no more excuses about losing the coin toss and not having an opportunity to put your offense on the field. Oh yeah, the pressure on kickers just went up considerably. No one wants to miss the tying kick in overtime but it is going to happen, lets hope Lawrence Tynes is training for a strong season.

The official rules are as follows:

– Both teams must have the opportunity to possess the ball once during the extra period, unless the team that receives the opening kickoff scores a touchdown on its initial possession, in which case it is the winner.
– If the team that possesses the ball first scores a field goal on its initial possession, the other team shall have the opportunity to possess the ball. If [that team] scores a touchdown on its possession, it is the winner. If the score is tied after [both teams have a] possession, the team next scoring by any method shall be the winner.
-If the score is tied at the end of a 15-minute overtime period, or if [the overtime period’s] initial possession has not ended, another overtime period will begin, and play will continue until a score is made, regardless of how many 15-minute periods are necessary.

On another note, we will be watching the ongoing Iggles quarterback situation closely, from what we hear, it is very unlikely that the Iggles keep McNabb, Kolb, and Vick for the 2010 season. The Iggles have over-played their hand with Vick, no one is going to give up a first round pick and new money for Vick; Kolb is the future, so McNabb may be the odd man out. We’ll dive into this a little bit more tomorrow, do Giants fans think McNabb’s exit (and Kolb’s ascension) is a good thing or not?