Kansas City Chiefs tried to change overtime rules that everyone is complaining about

The Chiefs couldn’t have known it at the time, but NFL owners did them a favor by not giving them what they wanted three years ago.

After not getting the ball in overtime of the 2018 AFC Championship Game and watching Tom Brady and the Patriots score a touchdown to book a spot in the Super Bowl, the Chiefs sought a change.

Overtime rules in the NFL playoffs say if the first team to get the ball punts, loses the ball on downs or makes a field goal, the other team would then have an offensive possession. But if that first team scores a touchdown, as the Chiefs did in their 42-36 win over the Buffalo Bills on Sunday, the game ends. (A defensive touchdown or safety on the opening drive in overtime also ends the game.)

At a league meeting in March 2019, the Chiefs proposed guaranteeing that each team gets the ball in the extra period.

According to a Boston.com story from 2019, NFL owners met two months later in Key Biscayne, Florida, and a vote wasn’t even taken on the Chiefs rule change “due to a lack of support. It was clear that the measure would not generate the 24 votes among the 32 teams necessary for ratification.”

The Chiefs also proposed getting rid of the coin toss before overtime.

Here was the official suggestion from the Chiefs, via NFL Football Operations: “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.”

Because the rule never changed, the Chiefs were the beneficiary. They didn’t let Buffalo touch the ball Sunday, and the overtime rule is again being scrutinized, with NBC Sports, Yahoo Sports and at least one former NFL player calling for change.

“I’m glad we didn’t change it as of last night,” Reid said Monday with a chuckle.

Reid added he would not oppose the change, saying: “To make things equal, it probably needs be able to hit both offenses, both defenses.”

Bills quarterback Josh Allen didn’t decry the rule following the game.

“The rules are what they are, and I can’t complain about that ‘cause if it was the other way around, we’d be celebrating, too,” Allen said, per NFL.com. “So, it is what it is at this point. We didn’t make enough plays tonight.”

Now that the overtime rule has worked for and against the Chiefs, would you like to see it changed to guarantee possession for both teams? Vote in our poll and/or leave a comment.