Remember that time when it was bitter cold and New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady marched down the field for a game-winning touchdown while the NFL MVP never got the chance to respond with a score of his own? That's probably happened more than once, but the most recent, in the AFC Championship Game, might be the final piece to having the league change its rules and policies when games go into overtime.
For the Kansas City Chiefs, the 37-31 loss at Arrowhead Stadium still stings. The team was perhaps a coin flip away from a trip to Super Bowl LIII, but it simply didn't happen. Tom Brady did his magic like he always does his magic, and rising star quarterback Patrick Mahomes was left on the sidelines without a chance to make any magic of his own.
Unlike in college football where each team gets an opportunity to score, the NFL has a much stricter OT policy. If you win the coin toss and you score a touchdown, the game is over. If you win the coin toss and you kick a field goal, the other team gets the ball with a chance to match it. If nobody scores, well, that's boring and is considered a tie during the regular season.
What happened to the Chiefs is unfortunate, but KC head coach Andy Reid wants to make sure it never happens to another team again.
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According to ProFootballTalk on NBCSports.com, Chiefs general manager Brett Veach said Reid is working on a proposal to change the league's overtime rules so that each team is guaranteed an offensive possession.
"Coach is working on that. I think everybody wants a chance for guys to do what they do. I don't really see the downside of having that. Especially when you have a player like Pat Mahomes. It would have been a lot of fun. I think people, if they weren't already tuned in for a great game, would have turned on that overtime."
— Kansas City Chiefs General Manager Brett Veach, via PFT Live
Maybe so. Then again, maybe not. Had the Chiefs been able to stop the Patriots at all, this scenario would never had existed. But the fact the both the AFC Championship and NFC Championship Game between the Los Angeles Rams and New Orleans Saints went into overtime, the topic will certainly heat up.
Look, this needs to happen. Having an old-school rule is cool, but it is hard to justify a coin toss potentially deciding who wins the game. The Patriots could have the same gripe if the roles were reversed and the Chiefs had the first possession.
If 23 other NFL teams — the necessary number of votes to pass a rule change — don't see it now to make this NFL overtime rules change, it may never happen.
