Head of NFL Competition Committee Says OT Rule Changes Have 'a Lot of Momentum'

NFL Competition Committee chairman Rich McKay said Friday there's "a lot of momentum" toward changing the league's overtime rules.

McKay explained he's still not sure whether either of the two formal proposals—one to guarantee both teams possession in overtime or another to force the receiving team to score both a touchdown and a two-point conversion to end the game on the first OT possession—has enough support to earn approval from the league's owners, per ESPN's Kevin Seifert.

"I think my history on this rule tells me that 24 votes is not easy to get," McKay said. "But I do think the statistics absolutely warrant an examination of whether overtime rules need to be further modified."

The most notable concern is the massive disparity in overtime results in the playoffs.

Under the current format, which allows the team that wins the coin toss to end the game with a touchdown, 10 of the 12 postseason games that went to OT were won by the team that received the kickoff, per Seifert. Seven times it happened on the first possession.

While the issue has been lingering for the past few years, it took center stage in the Divisional Round of last season's playoffs when Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs eliminated Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills with a first-possession overtime TD after one of the wildest finishes in recent memory.

The Chiefs and Bills combined for a eye-popping 25 points in the final two minutes of regulation. So the game ending without Allen even getting to touch the football in overtime sparked a lot of debate, which he joked about at the annual NFL Honors award show:

While the active proposals, which were brought forward by the Indianapolis Colts, Philadelphia Eagles and Tennessee Titans, would be a step in the right direction, they aren't perfect.

That's because there's still a sizable advantage to the team that wins the coin toss.

If both teams are guaranteed a possession, the team that wins the toss will likely elect to defer the kickoff and know exactly what it must to do win on the second possession. If a team can end the game with a touchdown and two-point conversion, the opponent can still lose without touching the ball.

In turn, it's a surprise more time hasn't been spent discussing alternatives to letting a coin toss play such an important role in the outcome of a playoff game.

It could be something as simple as the team with the more total yards getting to choose whether to receive or kick off to start overtime, which would also force teams to become more aggressive in the fourth quarter of close games, or using an actual skill such as a kicking contest in lieu of the coin toss.

As McKay noted, however, getting support from three-fourths of team owners is difficult, which is likely why the initial proposals are more basic. If either of those are approved and fail to solve the problem, then maybe more unique ideas will be considered.

The owners will meet next week for their annual meetings in Florida and will vote on whether to make any changes to the overtime rules for 2022.