Indianapolis — More than a month has passed since Josh Allen called the tail, the coin came to a head, and the Buffalo Bills quarterback never saw the ball again after losing to Kansas City in the AFC Divisional Round playoffs.
The Chiefs won the toss to start overtime, Patrick Mahomes easily fielded Travis Kells down for his game-winning TD pass, and just as the Bills had finished the season and raved about overtime rules had begun.
Only this time, it wasn't just the Bills fans who were unfairly treated, it was the NFL fans because the best game of the NFL season — one of the best games in the league's history, quite frankly — felt a little tainted by the fact. Because the Bills did not get a chance to keep the ball in the extra period.
Indianapolis — More than a month has passed since Josh Allen called the tail, the coin came to a head, and the Buffalo Bills quarterback never saw the ball again after losing to Kansas City in the AFC Divisional Round playoffs.
The Chiefs won the toss to start overtime, Patrick Mahomes easily fielded Travis Kells down for his game-winning TD pass, and just as the Bills had finished the season and raved about overtime rules had begun.
Only this time, it wasn't just the Bills fans who were unfairly treated, it was the NFL fans because the best game of the NFL season — one of the best games in the league's history, quite frankly — felt a little tainted by the fact. Because the Bills did not get a chance to keep the ball in the extra period.
The Bills plan to submit a proposal that would only affect post-season games, while the Colts will offer a solution they want to apply to the regular season as well.
"I think there will be some changes," Bills general manager Brandon Bean said Tuesday during his media session at the NFL Scouting Combine. "I think there is, I don't know how many offers, but a GM and I laughed at the Senior Bowl that there were going to be 32 different offers."
As it is today, if the team holding the ball scores a touchdown on the first drive, the game is over. If it scores a field goal, or does not score, the opposing team receives the ball and can either win the game with a touchdown, or tie it with a field goal.
In the regular season, if the game ends in a tie after 10 minutes, it is over, but obviously in the post season play will continue until the next score.
"Yeah, I'll just put it in general terms, I think, from what we've experienced overall, I think there's a better way," said Bills coach Sean McDermott. "And when you go through experiences like that and you experience those things in particular, you want the game to evolve. I'm not going to go into the details of it, it's here for another meeting. But we got some ideas and I think they will help take the game forward. And we'll see where it goes."
Bean was willing to offer something else on what the bill would propose.
"We definitely put our stamp on one," Bean said, indicating that it is based on a set amount of time played in overtime.
"Similar to basketball, you play five minutes," Bean said. "Baseball, both teams get the top half and the bottom half [to hit]. So a time limit, and I'm only talking about post season, to play it. And thus, for both teams. The pass will certainly have one chance and probably more than one right."
Bean said the bills would not push for changes to the regular season, mainly because of player safety.
"It's a 17-game season," he said. "I personally don't think ties are as big of a deal in the regular season. But in the post season, you've worked so long, you've played a 17-game season, you've been working since April or May. You know, everything is on the line.
"A coin tosses here or there, I guess, let's play it in a certain amount of time. That's our opinion. I don't know if this will be the end result at the owners' meetings in March, but I think there are some good offers to come." And hopefully it will at least come to a point where both the teams get a chance."
Since the current overtime rule came into force in 2010, there have been 12 playoff games that went into extra time, and 10 of them were won by the team that won the toss, seven of them won on the first drive as the Chiefs.
The Cincinnati Bengals threw a wrench in those numbers the very next week when they lost the coin toss in Kansas City, but quickly picked up a Mahomes pass and won the game with a field goal.
The competition committee will bring up any potential changes to overtime at a league meeting later this month and owners can vote on the issue, although it is not guaranteed as it is uncertain how hot-button topic it is for the group.
If a vote is taken, it would need the support of 24 of the 32 owners to pass.
