How Soccer’s Crazy Penalty Kicks Could Fix the NFL’s Tie Problem (Explained Simply)

Why I’m Obsessed With Soccer Penalty Kicks

The United States is out of the World Cup, so the writer has no team to cheer for. But they plan to watch every remaining game, hoping for one specific thing: penalty kicks!

• Most soccer fans call their sport the "beautiful game," but penalty kicks are not beautiful. They are like wild, crazy madness that you can’t look away from.
• Watching them feels like being in a room while someone tries to defuse a bomb—super tense and dramatic!
• In the first two elimination rounds of the World Cup, only three games ended in penalty kicks, and all were awesome:
  • Egypt beat Australia
  • Morocco beat the Netherlands
  • Paraguay beat Germany
• Paraguay’s win was one of the biggest upsets (surprise victories) of the tournament. Fans in that South American country will probably talk about it for the next 60 years.

Important Point: Penalty kicks are exciting because they suddenly decide a winner instead of leaving things unclear.

Why Ties Are No Fun (Especially in the NFL)

The writer hates ties (when both sides finish with the same score and nobody wins).

• In soccer, ties are a necessary evil during the regular season and the World Cup group stage (the first round where many teams play).
• But in the NFL (American football), there’s no good reason for ties.
• The NFL plays only 17 regular-season games (a short schedule). If the writer were ever the boss (commissioner), the first change would be to eliminate all ties.
• In NFL playoff games (special end-of-season matches), ties aren’t allowed. Both teams get at least one chance with the ball. If they match each other and don’t score again, the game could go to double or even triple overtime (extra periods). That’s okay in playoffs.
• During the regular season, making players play many extra periods isn’t practical. Football is rough on the body over the normal four quarters, and a fifth quarter is even worse.
• That’s why in 2017, the NFL shortened regular-season overtime from 15 minutes to 10 minutes.

Callout: The NFL cut overtime to 10 minutes in 2017 to protect players from getting too tired or hurt.

The Problem With NFL Overtime Now

The shortened 10‑minute overtime is fine, but if the score is still tied when the clock hits zero, the game ends in a tie. The writer thinks that’s terrible. They believe the NFL should copy the drama of soccer penalty kicks to create a fun, suspenseful way to end any game still tied after one overtime.

Two Proposals to End Ties With Drama

We have two ideas:

1. One borrowed from college football (Proposal 1).
2. One that ends the "penalty kick" part of overtime in a single play (Proposal 2).

Proposal 1: The Two-Point Shootout

How college football does the ending part:

• In college, if a game is tied after two overtimes, both teams try a "two-point conversion" (a short play to score 2 extra points).
• The writer does not want the NFL to copy the early college overtime rules (where teams get possessions from the 25‑yard line).
• Instead, keep the NFL’s 10‑minute overtime, then if still tied, add the two-point shootout.

What would happen:

• After the 10 minutes, each team tries one two-point conversion.
• If one makes it and the other misses, the successful team wins.
• If both make it or both miss, they go to Round 2, and keep going if needed.

Real example: Last year, only one NFL game ended in a tie: Week 4, Green Bay Packers vs Dallas Cowboys, 40‑40.

• If this rule existed, both would have tried a two-point conversion after overtime.
• That game was on Sunday Night Football and drew 26.9 million viewers—NBC’s fifth‑most‑watched regular‑season game last season. A first‑ever two‑point shootout might have broken the internet!

Downside: The shootout could drag on for 7 or 8 rounds after a 10‑minute overtime, which is tiring for players.

Proposal 2: The Field Goal Gamble

This is like penalty kicks but finished in just ONE play!

How it works (step‑by‑step):

1. If the game is still tied after the 10‑minute overtime, flip a coin.
2. The team that wins the coin toss chooses how far away the kick should be (the "distance" for a field goal attempt).
3. The team that loses the coin toss decides: "We will kick it" or "You kick it."
4. The chosen kicker tries the field goal (kicking the ball through the yellow posts).
5. If they make it, their team wins; if they miss, the other team wins.

Example with Packers‑Cowboys:

• Packers win toss and choose 61 yards (a long kick).
• Cowboys have one of the NFL’s best kickers, Brandon Aubrey, so they decide to try the kick.
• If Aubrey makes it, Cowboys win; if he misses, Packers win.
• The Packers’ kicker was Brandon McManus, who is only 1‑for‑10 in his career from 60+ yards. So Dallas could have said, "No thanks, you kick it," letting McManus try instead.

Why this is fair: The team picking the distance won’t choose something impossible (like 75 yards) because they might have to kick it themselves. This creates a natural check‑and‑balance.

Why it’s not crazy: Kickers already decide games many times per season with last‑second field goals.

Russell Wilson’s similar idea: In 2021, NFL player Russell Wilson (now working at CBS Sports) proposed a rule where a team attempts a field goal from a set 53 yards. But kickers are so good now that 53 yards feels easy. Letting one team pick the distance adds strategy. Wilson hates ties even more than the writer! He said:
"This thing drives me crazy… We go into overtime and play the 10 minutes, and if no one scores, we all end in a tie and everyone goes home? How terrible is that?"

Important: With the field goal gamble, an overtime game could be decided on one kick, adding the same suspense we get from soccer penalty kicks.

Summary

• Soccer penalty kicks are wild, can’t‑look‑away moments, and the writer wants the NFL to copy that excitement.
• Ties in the NFL regular season feel pointless—last year’s Packers‑Cowboys 40‑40 tie is a perfect example.
• Proposal 1: After 10‑minute overtime, do a two‑point conversion shootout (like college’s ending rule).
• Proposal 2: After 10‑minute overtime, a coin toss lets one team pick kick distance and the other pick the kicker—one kick decides the winner.
• Both ideas would erase ties and bring soccer‑style drama to football.

FAQ

Q1: What is a penalty kick in soccer?
A: It’s a close‑range shot at the goal used to decide a tied game after extra time. It’s super stressful and exciting!

Q2: Why does the NFL have ties at all?
A: In the regular season, after a 10‑minute overtime (shortened from 15 minutes in 2017 to keep players safe), if no one scores, the game simply ends as a tie.

Q3: What is a two‑point conversion?
A: After a touchdown, instead of kicking for 1 point, the team tries to carry or pass the ball into the end zone for 2 extra points. It’s a short, risky play.

Q4: What is the "field goal gamble"?
A: A suggested NFL rule where, after overtime, a coin toss decides who picks the kick distance, and the other team chooses which kicker attempts it. One kick wins the game.

Q5: Who is Russell Wilson and why is he mentioned?
A: He’s an NFL player (now at CBS Sports) who in 2021 proposed a similar no‑tie idea using a fixed‑distance field goal. He really dislikes ties and inspired the strategy twist of picking distance.