The current overtime rules in the National Football League are something that Mike Tomlin is a fan of. There is a time and a place.
The owners of the National Football League have approved a proposal for overtime that will only apply to the playoffs. The vote took place at the league meetings.
The rule that allows a team to win on the opening possession of overtime if it scores a touchdown will continue for regular-season games.
Competition committee chairman Rich McKay said last week that the meetings opened with a lot of enthusiasm for changing the rules. The Indianapolis Colts and Philadelphia Eagles have both proposed making it mandatory for each team to have an overtime possession. If the team that has the first possession scores a touchdown and converts a successful two-point attempt, then mandatory possession would be required.
McKay said that the clubs covered the nature of the discussion well and that the competition committee did not endorse either proposal. The Colts/Eagles proposal was modified by the owners in order to avoid the same outcome as the Kansas City Chiefs victory over the Buffalo Bills earlier this year. The coin toss was won by the Chiefs. Josh Allen and the Bills offense were unable to affect the outcome of the game because they scored a touchdown on their first drive.
According to league data, teams winning the coin toss have won 50% of the time since the requirement for an opening-possession touchdown was instituted. The number has gone up a bit since the league shortened overtime from a maximum of 15 to 10 minutes, but there has been a big jump in the playoffs.
Seven of 12 overtime games have been won on the opening possession, and 10 of those 12 were won by the team that won the coin toss.
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