March 29, 2022
UPDATE [5:10 p.m.] — The NFL has made the new playoff overtime rule official.
If a playoff games goes to overtime, each team is guaranteed a possession. If the score is tied after each team's first possession, the next score wins. And in the extremely rare chance the team kicking off to start overtime forces a safety, that team wins.
🚨 NEW PLAYOFF OVERTIME RULES 🚨 pic.twitter.com/OMJ0cYSih1
— NFL (@NFL) March 29, 2022
"We all lived as part of it," Atlanta Falcons president and competition committee chair Rich McKay said of what drove the change on Tuesday. "I was part of a game where we lost on the first on the first possession of the Super Bowl, and the game as tough as it was, and the ending as tough as it was...but I think in [the Buffalo-Kansas City playoff game] this year, it's potentially the greatest 20-30 minutes in football that I've ever seen. Ever. Just watching a game. To think that it ended that way definitely brought up the idea of 'hey, is that equitable? Does that work for everybody?'
"So I think that did, no question, that started the discussion. But what typically happens in these is that they tend to lose momentum as you get further away from the game. That did not happen in this instance."
The #Bills #Chiefs playoff game definitely tipping point for NFL OT change.
— Jon Scott (@JonScottTV) March 29, 2022
"It's potentially the greatest 20-30 minutes in football that I've ever seen. Ever. Just watching a game. And to think that it ended that way... Does that work for everybody?" pic.twitter.com/KW1AS6Bvo9
EARLIER...
The NFL will have new overtime rules in the playoffs, and the Eagles are partially to thank for it.
Both teams will get a possession in playoff overtime moving forward, regardless of what happens on the first one. League owners have approved the new format, which was pitched by the Eagles and the Indianapolis Colts, at their annual meeting down in Florida on Tuesday.
The #Eagles and #Colts proposal has passed — and it’s permanent. Both teams guaranteed a possession in overtime — postseason only. https://t.co/9YszdDjXUZ
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) March 29, 2022
It doesn't really do Josh Allen and the Bills any favors now, but at least their insane shootout against the Chiefs sparked a change?...Yeah...Yeah, I know...not much of a consolation.
The Bills and Chiefs went back and forth in that legendary AFC Divisional game, but the Chiefs won the overtime coin toss and then the game on a walk-off touchdown with the first possession. The Bills' offense, which had an answer to everything the entire night, never got a chance to touch the ball.
The outcome was a major push for the argument that playoff overtime needed a rule change. The current format, where games can be won via a touchdown on the first possession, has been in place since 2010 and looks to remain in place for the regular season for the time being.
The final vote was 29-3, sources say. Was trending towards being tabled until the compromise to make it postseason only (for now) was struck. https://t.co/bKawEA4f2M
— Albert Breer (@AlbertBreer) March 29, 2022
It'll be a long time before we see the new postseason format play out in January (provided any playoff game needs it), but on paper, this should result in much fairer, more satisfying outcomes. Though, inevitably, some team's fans are going to cry foul that they would've won under the old rules.
Always a good idea until you're the first one on the receiving end of it. The Steelers know all about that.
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