As a person who has hated the NFL's overtime rule for a looooooooooooong time, it's nice to see the league is starting to crack a little bit and realize a 40-some-yard field goal isn't what it used to be when the current OT rule was adopted in 1974.

FINALLY, the league's competition committee will be addressing the overtime rule during the owners' meetings March 21-24 in Orlando. I doubt the league will vote for a change this time around, but at least the idea of making a change to the current ridiculous format will be thrown on the table for discussion.

The new format would encourage teams to score touchdowns rather than kick cheapened field goals. A great concept that's both fair and more entertaining.

There would still be a coin flip to determine overtime possession. But instead of sudden death, only a touchdown -- either offensive or defensive -- could end the game on the first possession. If the team that gets the ball first kicks a field goal, the other team would get a possession. If that team also kicks a field goal, then the game becomes sudden death.

I like that concept. But I don't understand why the league is only willing to use it in the playoffs, and not the regular season. Last time I checked, the regular season was pretty important, too. Why not use the better format to possibly help determine who makes the playoffs, who wins divisions and who gets homefield advantage?

Not long after the Vikings gagged away the NFC title game with 235 turnovers at New Orleans, I wrote about how the league needed to get rid of its outdated sudden death overtime rule. When the league adopted the rule, it was 1974, and a 40-yard field goal was a big deal. Today, most of these kickers can make a 40-yard field goal using just their pinky toe.

Throw in the fact that teams kick off farther back, which promotes returns and better field position for the offense, and, well, the current format simply isn't fair to the team that loses the coin flip.

Some thought I was simply whining about the Vikings' loss at New Orleans in the NFC title game. First of all, I'm a neutral Vikings' observer, so it really didn't matter to me one way or the other if they went to the Super Bowl.

Secondly, I referred to that Vikings' loss because it was the absolute perfect example of how outdated the current overtime rule is.

The Saints won the coin flip and had a decent return. Not great, but a good return. Then they "drove" 39 yards -- 17 of which came via penalties, at least one of which was questionable. Then a kicker slapped a 40-yard field goal and, well, that was that.

Never mind what happened leading up to the overtime. Yeah, the Vikings could have found a way to put 11 men in the huddle instead of 12. And Brett Favre could have not thrown that awful pass.

But how much better would that game have been if the rules had forced Drew Brees to push on for a touchdown? Or if Favre had been given another possession?

To adopt the OT rule change, 24 of the 32 owners must vote for it. Here's hoping they do it as a way to make overtime more fair and more exciting.