Chiefs to propose rule that both teams get ball in OT after Patrick Mahomes denied chance in AFC championship
The Kansas City Chiefs suffered a brutal loss in the AFC championship game.
It apparently hurt so bad that the team is trying to convince the NFL to change the rules of the game.
After trailing 14-0 at halftime to the New England Patriots, the Chiefs rallied to take a 28-24 lead with 2:03 remaining only to go on to lose in overtime when they couldn't keep the Patriots out of the end zone.
Burkhead keeps ball out of Mahomes’ hands
Rex Burkhead scored a touchdown on the first drive of the extra session to ensure that the Chiefs wouldn't see the ball again in New England's 37-31 win.
The Chiefs and their MVP quarterback Patrick Mahomes didn’t get a chance to respond on offense.
Chiefs: Change the rules
Head coach Andy Reid wants to make sure that a situation like that never happens again.
Chiefs general manager Brett Veach told Pro Football Talk on Friday that Reid is putting together a proposal that guarantees both teams receive the ball in overtime. As the rule stands now, if the team with the ball first scores a touchdown, the game is over, as was the case in the AFC championship.
“Coach is working on that,” Veach told PFT. “I think everybody wants a chance for guys to do what they do.
“I don’t really see the downside of having that. Especially when you have a player like Pat Mahomes. It would have been a lot of fun. I think people, if they weren’t already tuned in for a great game, would have turned on that overtime.”
An overtime rule change would require 75 percent of the league — 24 teams — to sign off on it.
Sore losers?
Veach is certainly right about a couple of points. It would have been a lot of fun. And fans would have watched Mahomes and the Chiefs offense with a chance to tie the game or take the lead against the Patriots.
But those aren’t compelling arguments for a dramatic rule overhaul. What’s fun isn’t necessarily what’s right. And given the option, fans would likely want to watch a lot of things that shouldn’t be allowed.
And if Veach and Reid come off a bit as sore losers here, well, it’s because they probably are.
What should the NFL do?
But none of this makes the proposal a bad idea.
Talk of change to overtime rules strikes a chord with fans on both sides of the issues.
One side points to the fact that the Chiefs had multiple opportunities to stop the Patriots on third down in overtime and couldn’t do it. Defense is part of the game too, that argument goes.
This is true. The Chiefs did a poor job on defense. And defense is a significant part of the game.
But so is offense. And the Chiefs were denied the opportunity of an entire portion of the game that the Patriots were granted due to the luck of a coin flip.
Baseball games aren’t over in the top of the 10th inning when the visiting team scores first. And the AFC championship shouldn’t have ended with Mahomes and the Chiefs offense not getting their fair shot at possessing the ball.
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