The NFL Changed Its Overtime Rules Because Quarterbacks Have Gotten Too Good

Here’s how momentum built inside the room for a proposal to guarantee both teams possession in OT—but only for the playoffs.

PALM BEACH, Fla. — Twelve years ago, the NFL changed overtime in a significant way, for the first time in decades, based on the simple premise that kickers had become too good.

On Tuesday, the same sort of acknowledgment came on the league’s quarterbacks.

Overtime was modified again at the NFL’s annual meeting, by a resounding 29–3 vote, with an amended version of a proposal submitted jointly by the Colts and Eagles going into the rulebook. The change will guarantee both teams get a possession in overtime (but for the playoffs only), shifting from the previous format in which a touchdown on the extra period’s first possession could end the game.

Denny Medley/USA TODAY Sports

The obvious flashpoint that sparked an offseason-long debate was January’s divisional playoff game between the Bills and Chiefs, which ended without Josh Allen and the Buffalo offense getting to touch the ball. Kansas City had been through the same sort of circumstance three years earlier, losing the AFC title game to Tom Brady and the eventual-champion Patriots in similar fashion.

And that was part a larger trend over the 12 years since the current format went in for playoff games (it was instituted for regular-season games in 2012): Of the 12 playoff games that have gone to overtime in that stretch, 10 were won by the team that won the coin toss, and seven of those 10 were won on the first possession. It was 10 of 11 playoff games before the Bengals beat the Chiefs in overtime in the AFC title game.

Competition committee chair Rich McKay cited those numbers as impetus for the change.

“I think what the stats show is there is a clear issue we can say since the change in 2010,” said McKay. “And the problem comes in the postseason.”

McKay did concede that rule changes, schematic advances and an overall talent influx all have played into great quarterbacks, like Mahomes, Allen and Brady, having a distinct edge as a result of winning the coin toss—because all of it adds up to the league’s best field generals becoming too hard to stop in one-off situations. Then, there’s what the fans want, and ratings spiking for overtime playoff games reflected demand from fans to see more, not less, of the very best quarterbacks.

As such, TV networks, once staunchly taking the position that games should end within (or close to within) their prescribed windows, have more recently taken a more-is-more approach with the league.

That all set the stage for Tuesday’s spirited debate between coaches, execs, owners and the competition committee.

The initial conversation, which was lengthy, included Ravens coach John Harbaugh pitching a third option to the room—one called “continuation” or “extended period.” The idea would simply continue the game, and flip the field, like you would going from the first to second quarter, or the third to fourth quarter, at the end of regulation if the game was tied.

Advocates for the idea, which was discussed with NFL commissioner Roger Goodell and EVP of football operations Troy Vincent on Monday in Palm Beach, liked how it took the coin toss out of overtime altogether, and meant each possession in overtime would be earned within the normal course of the game. Opponents pointed out it’d remove the tension from the final minutes of regulation.

Ultimately, that “continuation” proposal would’ve required the league tabling overtime until its May meeting in New York, to write an official proposal, and give the league and teams a chance to work through the idea and any potential unintended consequences.

And the feeling at that point was that things were actually trending that way. Multiple sources indicated that, after the early stages of the conversation, there was almost no chance the Eagles’ and Colts’ proposal was going to pass for all games. The expectation is the proposal would’ve gotten 16 or 18 votes at that point, well short of the 32 needed to pass.

That’s where Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie stepped in and suggested that the league take the same path it did in 2010—and implement the change for the playoffs only (since that’s where the impact was felt most). The idea required reframing the conversation to remind those in the room that discussion over a 10-minute period (that’s what it is in the regular season) wouldn’t be relevant anymore, with 15-minute periods in playoff overtime, and continuous play throughout. And ultimately, that wound up pushing the proposal over the goal line.

The modified proposal for postseason only passed resoundingly, with only the Bengals, Dolphins and Vikings voting against it.

Of course, no one can rewind the clock now and give Allen the ball back.

But at least now, he knows, in that circumstance, he’s going to get it.