Bills quarterback Josh Allen throws a pass during the Buffalo Bills AFC divisional-round game with the Chiefs. (Photo courtesy: David E. Klutho/Sports Illustrated)
With the NFL playoffs well underway and the Super Bowl just around the corner, there has been immense debate throughout the NFL community as to the fairness of overtime protocols.
The current outrage amongst coaches, players and fans stems from the AFC divisional-round matchup between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Buffalo Bills. In this highly anticipated win or go home contest, Chief’s quarterback Patrick Mahomes led an incredible final drive moving the ball 44 yards in 10 seconds. The possession was capped off with a Harrison Butker 49-yard field goal as time expired, sending the game to overtime.
After leveling the matchup at 36 each, Kansas City won the overtime coin toss and elected to receive the ball. Without a hint of trouble, the reigning AFC champions marched down the field in just over 4 minutes and walked it off with an 8-yard touchdown grab by veteran tight end Travis Kelce. The score left Buffalo without a chance of rebuttal on offense, leading to outrage by many across the NFL world.
The feeling of injustice comes from the Bills’ lack of opportunity to score on offense. The thought among those advocating for change is that the game can almost entirely be determined by the flip of a coin, should the team that wins the toss score a touchdown on their first drive.
Bills quarterback Josh Allen felt the result wasn’t determined by rules but rather the team’s failure to capitalize on chances saying, “We had our opportunities, we made some plays, but not enough to get the job done.”
Allen concluded that if his side were in the same position, they would be ecstatic, going further to say, “The rules are what they are, and I can’t complain about that because if it was the other way around, we’d be celebrating too.”
Contrary, Allen’s teammate, Dion Dawkins spoke up about a potential change in OT protocol.
“You can fight your entire fight the whole game, and then the game comes down to a 50-50 chance of a coin toss, like this ain’t Vegas, we’re not at the casino table,” said Dawkins in a postgame interview.
Tyrann Mathieu wins coin toss for the Chiefs (Photo courtesy: Buffalo News)
There have of course been updates in overtime procedure in recent years with the NFL updating their guidelines in 2010 and then further in 2012. Prior to the current overtime ruling, all OT periods were sudden death, but rather than needing a touchdown to win the game on the first possession, a field goal was sufficient. This gave an even larger advantage to the team winning the coin toss.
In 2010 the NFL decided that for all post-season games a touchdown on the opening drive was needed to win the match and that a field goal would afford the opposition a chance at the ball. This ruling was then adopted into regular-season meetings in 2012.
Now there is a push for further equity. Many argue that regardless of an opening drive touchdown, both teams deserve a chance. Among those is Kansas City coach, Andy Reid.
“To make things equal, it probably needs to be able to hit both offenses and both defenses,” said Reid following his AFC divisional-round victory over the Bills.
The Chiefs head coach saw his team go beyond 4 quarters in back-to-back weeks, coming out on the losing end the second time around. Kansas City lost another OT thriller 27-24 at the hands of the Cincinnati Bengals Sunday afternoon.
In this matchup however, the Bengals defense was able to force a turnover and win the AFC championship on a field goal set up by second-year quarterback Joe Burrow.
Fans have taken to Twitter as well to express their desire for an update. One fan went as far as to say, “NFL has the worst overtime rules of any professional sports league.”
It is clear that the current overtime format does give a distinct advantage to the team that wins the coin toss. Subsequently, there will likely be a push for an update this off-season, but for now we’ll have to wait until the conclusion of Super Bowl LVI in two weeks’ time.
Current NFL Postseason Protocol
At the end of regulation, there is a second coin toss, determining which team gets to possess the ball first.
Each team has to get a chance to possess the football. Unless the team that gets the ball first scores a touchdown.
It is sudden death – After each team has had a chance to possess the ball, the game ends with any score.
Each team receives 3 timeouts per half
There are no coaches’ challenges. All replays are initiated by the booth.
If the game remains tied after a quarter of overtime the game will continue until there is a winner
*This is not the complete list of rules and regulations.
Comments