But Herm Edwards told me...

October 30, 2002 - The Cleveland Browns beat the New York Jets and it sparked one of the most infamous lines in all of sports. A reporter had asked Herm Edwards, coach of the New York Jets, if his team had the ability to win, in which he followed, "You play to win the game."

An NFL game that ends in a tie is not that easy to come across. Yet, this past week, the Philadelphia Eagles went to overtime with the Cincinnati Bengals and neither team could manage to get anything done in overtime, resulting in a tie. And yes, Donovan McNabb might not have been fully aware of the overtime rule that states, if nobody scores at the end of the first overtime, the game is over ending in a tie. Yes, he being a veteran to the game should have known this and he is probably getting an earful for it. But I'm not going to be one of those people that harp on him about this. Why? Because this should've never happened in the first place. Herm Edwards was right back in `02. You play to win the game. No matter how long it takes or how many overtimes you go to, or no matter how badly you are playing at the moment, you should be playing to win the game. Not to just scave by with a tie. Donovan made a good point when he asked what would happen if this were to happen in the post-season. Of course we all know that they would fight it out until someone finally won. But, what makes that any different than the regular season. The Eagles are still very much in the playoff race and this outdated system now might have cost them a spot in the postseason. And as for the Bengals, well, at least it's not another loss.

Applying this rule to this situation presents too much cloudiness for the playoff race. We are now going to have to pay attention to exactly what the Eagles will have to do to overcome this tie and all of the different situations they could possibly be put in. Although, it is their fault for not being able to overcome overtime against one of the worst teams in the NFL, it is not their fault that they are victim to an outdated system that should've been done away with a long time ago. If only the NFL and NCAA Football could find a happy medium in their rules and playoff systems, the sports world would be a much better place. Until then, I'm still waiting for a second OT in Cincy!