3 Proposed NFL Overtime Rule Changes After Buffalo vs. KC Thriller

Sports Illustrated Ashley Nicole Moss and Robin Lundberg Analyze NFL OT Rules after Buffalo Bills Loss to KC Chiefs (video via Youtube: Sports Illustrated)

The Divisional Round matchup between the Buffalo Bills and the Kansas City Chiefs left NFL fans with a bittersweet “What If” taste in their mouth.

After winning the coin toss, Mahomes and Co. marched down the field and walked off the Bills— all while Buffalo’s quarterback, Josh Allen, watched in despair from the bench.

Which begs the following questions: What if Allen and the Bills would have also received an opportunity to score? What if the Bills would have won the coin toss instead of the Chiefs? Moreover, what if the NFL Overtime Rules need a complete reboot?

Before we get on our soapboxes, it’s important to note that, the Chiefs proposed new Overtime Rules back in 2019 when Patrick Mahomes suffered the same fate as Allen— Mahomes watched the GOAT, Tom Brady, march his Patriots offense down the field from the sidelines for a game-winning touchdown without ever touching the ball. Ironic, isn’t it?

But, wait! There’s more! Kansas City’s proposal (see below) fell through as it became evident that it would fail to receive the required 24 out of 32 NFL owners votes, per the Washington Post:

By Kansas City; to amend Rule 16 to (1) allow both teams the opportunity to possess the ball at least one time in overtime, even if the first team to possess the ball in overtime scores a touchdown; (2) eliminate overtime for preseason; and (3) eliminate overtime coin toss so that winner of initial coin toss to begin game may choose whether to kick or receive, or which goal to defend.

Not bad at first glance, right? Preseason games don’t need overtime and giving both teams the opportunity to possess the ball makes sense— yet therein lies the problem; it just makes too much sense.

Time to get back on the soapbox people!

First “what if” question we will discuss: What if Allen and the Bills would have also received an opportunity to score?

Well, the Chiefs and Bills would still be playing right now— whoops. Yes, both Buffalo’s and Kansas City offenses were marching downfield with ease; dissecting each other’s defenses like mad scientists. Heck the Chiefs reached field goal range in NINE seconds!! Where’s the DEFENSE? Absolute mayhem, absolute chaos on the defensive side of the ball- for both teams.

Essentially, it would have boiled down to this: which offense would have made the costly mistake or turnover. Yes defense wins championships, but that adage doesn’t apply in this scenario.

Both defenses were spent and had no answer for the opposing offense. Truth be told, given the Chiefs have too many offensive weapons, Kansas City probably would have still won the shootout— but that doesn’t mean that Allen and the Bills couldn’t have stolen a road victory from Mahomes and Co.

Which leads us to our second “what if” question: What if the Bills would have won the coin toss instead of the Chiefs?

Allen shared his two cents by telling ESPN: “The rules are what they are. I can't complain about that because if it was the other way around, we'd be celebrating, too. It is what it is at this point. We just didn't make enough plays tonight."

Given the aforementioned, it is almost certain that Allen would have marched his offense downfield and walked off the Chiefs— but of course that didn’t happen, so we will never actually know.

What we do know, however, is that Bills Mafia and NFL fans for that matter, were robbed of a potential thrilling overtime shootout between arguably the two best young quarterbacks in the AFC— sickening right? Tell that to the NFL.

Imagine if the Chiefs proposal would have been approved by the NFL owners— both teams would have received a chance and you probably wouldn’t be reading this article right now— funny how life works, eh?

Finally it’s time to discuss our final “what if”: What if the NFL Overtime Rules need a complete reboot?

It’s not a what if, but rather an urgent matter that needs to be addressed. Out of the three major American professional sports leagues (NFL, NBA and MLB) the NFL is the only league that doesn’t initially grant both teams a chance to score. If your team loses the coin toss, your team may never see the ball again— just like the Bills on Sunday or Mahomes back in 2019 against Brady’s Patriots.

On the other hand, if overtime is required in the NBA, teams are allotted a five minute period to declare a winner without a sudden-death provision. Meanwhile, the MLB grants teams a full inning to dissolve a tie, also without a sudden-death provision.

Which brings us to our proposed set of solutions to this NFL Overtime fiasco:

Solution 1: Accept Chiefs proposal- with a twist- and implement it into next season. A second coin toss would determine who gets to possess the ball first and which goal to defend. Keep the same game clock and play clock rules, but just allow both teams to possess the ball. If both teams are still tied after their initial possession, then whoever scores next wins. It’s simple and not much of a drastic change from the current overtime rules.

Solution 2: Both teams receive one red-zone possession (inside their opponent’s 20 yard line) with initial possession determined by a coin toss. There will be no time limit so as to force teams to actually score and not run out a clock. The only way to win is by scoring a touchdown, as field goals won’t be allowed. If teams are still tied after their first possession, then sudden death provision kicks in— with whichever team scores first wins.

Solution 3: Modified College Football Overtime Rules so as to avoid 8 overtimes. Drives start at their own twenty-five yard line, with nothing but a play clock. Both teams will get a chance to possess the ball in order to declare a winner. If both teams are still tied then, each team will alternate running “2 point conversion plays” from the 3 yard line until a winner is declared.

Would the Bills have escaped Kansas City with a win had they won the coin toss? Who knows. The only thing that’s certain, is that the NFL Overtime Rules need to be modified.