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The Chiefs and Bills' offensive battle ended with a thud that reignited a debate over the NFL's overtime rules

Jan 24, 2022, 11:07 IST
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Josh Allen.Ed Zurga/AP Images
  • The Chiefs beat the Bills in overtime in a thrilling offensive battle to make the AFC Championship.
  • The Chiefs scored a touchdown on the first possession of overtime, ending the game before Josh Allen got a chance to touch the ball.
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A somewhat familiar scene played out in Kansas City on Sunday night: a team won in overtime, bringing a thrilling game to an abrupt halt, without the other one touching the ball.

In this case, it was the Kansas City Chiefs topping the Buffalo Bills, 42-36, with Patrick Mahomes finding Travis Kelce on an eight-yard strike to win the game in overtime.

It ended a spectacular offensive battle, in which the two teams combined for 25 points in the final 1:54 of the game, a see-saw affair that seemed to provide a new twist with each down.

However, fans and analysts couldn't help but feel unsatisfied by the ending, which saw the Chiefs win the coin toss and score on the opening drive of overtime to end the game. Josh Allen, after throwing for 329 yards and 4 touchdowns, never got to touch the ball to bring the Bills back.

This has played out before. In 2017, the New England Patriots overcame a 28-3 deficit in the Super Bowl, won the game on the opening drive of overtime, and never let that season's MVP, Matt Ryan, touch the ball for redemption.

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It happened again in the 2018 AFC Championship between the Patriots and Chiefs, with that year's MVP, Mahomes, never getting a chance to touch the ball in overtime.

Others argue that while the overtime rules may not be good — they are fair, and it's on defenses to get a stop. Of course, in this game, both defenses were shredded by quarterbacks playing at the peak of their position.

There could potentially be change on the horizon. Last year, the Baltimore Ravens pitched a new overtime rule where one team will pick the spot of the ball to start the extra period, and the other team will decide if they'd prefer to play offense or defense from that spot. According to Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio, one proposal suggested a sudden-death rule, with the first team to score winning, while another proposed playing out seven minutes and 30 seconds to determine a winner.

With Sunday's somewhat unsatisfying ending after an all-time great game, perhaps other teams will call for a change to the rules.

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