I realize that if both teams get a FG, it will be right back to where we started, but at least in that case, it cannot be argued that the other team never had an opportunity.
Also, I think both of us are missing what might be the real reason for the rule changes. Longer overtimes will result in additional TV commercials that networks can charge a premium price for - hence additional revenues to the NFL and to the networks that televise the games.
Remember, these rules are only for playoff games. They are fairly rare, so I doubt that these commercial interests drove the decision-making.
But it doesn’t force anything. They can go down and get the FG and then make the stop. The only thing that’s forced is you have to make sure your defense doesn’t get too excited, they still gotta make the stop, 4 downs. What makes it even funnier is that this year’s regular season the number of first possession OT wins plummeted to under 10%. The game fixed the “problem” on its own. Actually the percentage has been dropping fairly steadily for years.
Actually OT doesn’t have the TV timeouts. The only extra commercials they get are for the wrap around to start the new quarter. And they won’t be charging a premium, as the game wears on the commercial spots pay less as the trend is for games to be decided and viewers tune elsewhere. So it’s not much extra revenue. It was all to stop the whining, now for Manning or Brady or Brees to not get to touch the ball in OT their defense will have to fail big instead of just fail small.