The Kansas City Chiefs were devastated following the 2018 AFC championship game. Their talented offense never had a chance to see the field in overtime because they lost the coin toss and their defense couldn’t get off the field. This led to the franchise proposing a rules change for the 2019 season in hopes of minimizing the impact of the overtime coin toss. Here is what their proposal looked like:
(1) Allow both teams the opportunity to possess the ball at least one time in overtime, even if the first team to possess the ball in overtime scores a touchdown.
(2) Eliminate overtime for preseason.
(3) Eliminate overtime coin toss so that winner of initial coin toss to begin game may choose whether to kick or receive, or which goal to defend.
Their proposal was tabled until May league meetings and then failed to come to a vote. Now, the Philadelphia Eagles have taken over for the Chiefs as proponents for changes to the NFL’s overtime rules.
Here’s a look at the 2020 rules change proposals submitted by the clubs: https://t.co/Wkwst9sraf pic.twitter.com/mTm5YTk86P
— NFL Football Operations (@NFLFootballOps) March 10, 2020
Philadelphia proposes the NFL roll back the overtime rules to a single 15-minute period and implement rules to minimize the impact of the coin toss for the 2020 season. That last part is fairly vague, but I imagine this would mean allowing both teams an offensive possession. The Eagles will get a chance to present and defend their amendment to overtime rules when the league meets in Palm Beach, Florida for their annual meeting from Mar. 29 through Apr. 1. Hopefully, it’ll be more successful than the Chiefs’ attempt ahead of the 2019 season.
You can find out more about all of the other suggested rules changes here.
[vertical-gallery id=61117]