NFL To Discuss The Current Overtime Rule, After Bills Loss

It's a hard pill to swallow. The Buffalo Bills lost an absolute heartbreaker last night to the Kansas City Chiefs, 42-36 in overtime, for what was one of the the greatest games in NFL history, if not, the greatest game in NFL history.

The Bills seemingly won the game twice on Josh Allen touchdown throws, after two incredible drives.

One to Gabriel Davis on 4th and 13 with 1:54 left in regulation (27-yard TD pass), and the other to Davis from 18 yards out into the end zone, with 13 seconds left.

Of course, if you watched the game, then you likely know all about what happened next. The Bills did not squib kick it and the Chiefs went nearly 50 yards in 10 seconds to kick the game-tying field goal.

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The game then went into overtime and unfortunately for the Bills, the coin toss did not go their way and the Chiefs scored on their opening possession and the game ended.

The NFL overtime rules are the game ends if the team who has the ball first scores a touchdown. If they kick a field goal on the opening possession, then the other team gets one possession. Basically, both teams are guaranteed a possession, unless the team who gets the ball first scores a touchdown.

According to Ian Rapoport of The NFL Network, the NFL competition committee will review and discuss an overtime rule change this off-season, on the heels of the Bills and Josh Allen not getting a possession in overtime.

This will be the latest time it has been brought up, with the last time coming in 2019, when the Chiefs also didn't get a possession and the Patriots won the game on an overtime opening drive. That was in the AFC Championship game.

Rapoport says this is not a slam dunk and that there will be arguments on both sides. The feeling is the overtime format might get changed eventually, but might not happen this offseason.

Rapoport says one argument from the side to keep this format as is, is due to injury concerns and not wanting to risk injury by prolonging the game with an extra possession.

The problem with that argument is that the game continues if the team who gets the ball first, kicks a field goal. Then, there's another drive regardless, as would be if they had to punt it away or turned it over on downs.

The Bills lost the game because of their defensive strategy with 13 seconds left, but it's perfectly okay to also have the belief that the NFL overtime system is flawed and needs to be changed. Both things can be true.

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The Bills defense did not do their part, but the NFL overtime rule is flawed and contradictory to the arguments to keep it. Both the Chiefs and the Bills have been victims to this overtime system in the past four seasons, ironically.