The NFL Fails to Pass the Anti-Tom Brady Overtime Rules

Source – The Kansas City Chiefs will have to try again next year with their proposal to change the NFL’s overtime rules.

The NFL owners held their spring meeting over the past three days in Key Biscayne, Florida. This meeting typically has some carryover on the agenda from the previous meeting at the end of March. One item on the agenda of the competition committee was the Chiefs’ overtime proposal, which was tabled during the last meeting.

As first reported by NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, the Chiefs’ proposal to change overtime rules did not have the support among other NFL owners to come to a vote. …

So it’s possible the Chiefs will work on, and resubmit their proposal for consideration in the future. What’s interesting here is that the NFL seems open to implementing the change in the playoffs, but it sounds like they’re not quite ready when it comes to having enough support behind it.

Thoughts and prayers to the Kansas Chiefs, to Andy Reid, and to the entire NFL. It’s a sad day when the league rules that in order to win in the playoffs, you have to play defense, offense and special teams. For four quarters. Or five if necessary. Or for however long it takes. Even if that means making a stop against an offense led by Tom Brady.

Let’s just not let anyone claim this was about anything other than a desperate attempt by the Chiefs to change the rules because they couldn’t stop Brady. It’s not about fairness. It’s not about fans being robbed [Cliche’ Alert] of “the chance to see Patrick Mahomes touch the ball in overtime.”

And it’s certainly not about how the coin flip decides the game, because we know otherwise. Under the current rules, teams that win the coin toss win infinitesimally more than 50% of the overtime games. Just as a reminder no one needs, on Championship Game Sunday, the team that won the overtime toss won exactly 50% of the time. But no one in New Orleans or LA ran to the Rules Committee bitching about the inherent unfairness of calling Heads vs. Tails. (They had bigger issues.)

This is 100% a concession by the Chiefs and anyone who voted for it that they cannot stop Brady in the biggest moments. On the road, in the loudest stadium in the league, in the 4th quarter and overtime he led three touchdown drives, threw for 180 yards and three touchdowns. In just under 20 minutes of game time. Despite having a laser pointer in his eyes. Three times the Chiefs had New England in a 3rd & 10. Three times Brady converted. And by the end, with his defense backed up inside their own 5 and gasping for air, Andy Reid hung onto his timeouts like they were a Free Sub Club card with 12 stamps he could redeem after the game. Touchdown. Game over.

But apparently this issue still isn’t dead. They’re talking about revisiting it in the middle of the season and implementing it for the playoffs. I can’t imagine why:

It’s said that every time a postseason game is tied at the end of regulation, the gods flip a coin. And when it comes up Heads for New England, it spells doom. That’s the only reason we’re even having this discussion.