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A football game should not be decided by a coin flip.
But it basically was on Thursday night, in a classic between the Kansas City Chiefs and Los Angeles Chargers, who headed to overtime at 28 points apiece.
Then? Ex-Charger Melvin Ingram won the toss. The Chiefs got the ball, Patrick Mahomes marched them down the field and Travis Kelce finished the game with an awe-inspiring touchdown.
But did Justin Herbert then get to touch the ball once in overtime? No. And we’re left with Chiefs coach Andy Reid joking (via Pro Football Talk), “We were down to five seconds, took a knee and just said, ‘Listen, we have Melvin for the coin flip,’”
I mean, that’s it really. If you have Mahomes and you win the toss, it’s seems more possible you’ll score a touchdown, which ends the game, instead of a field goal that extends it.
Yep, that’s right. No Justin Herbert getting a chance to answer. No test of the Chiefs’ defense at all. No chance to see more of what was, up to that point, an incredible back-and-forth battle.
LAME.
It makes for a bad product. Imagine if this happens again in the Super Bowl — I know, it’s happened once, in the 28-3 game back in Super Bowl LI — and we miss out on a chance for a team to answer. Ugh.
What’s the solution? I’ve seen countless proposals, and I know that stretching a game to a fifth period and beyond isn’t a good thing for players who are already exhausted.
But I like the idea thrown out by 538’s Nate Silver: Each team gets the ball from the opponent’s 25-yard line, you need to score a touchdown and nothing else, and then it’s mandatory two-point conversions if the game extends beyond both teams scoring.
Whatever the solution is, it needs to require both teams getting the ball at least once.
Quick hits: Chargers fourth-down decisions were correct! … NFL picks against the spread … NBA Draft Big Board 1.0 … and more.
— As Christian D’Andrea pointed out, the Chargers’ failed fourth-down decisions were actually the right calls.
— Our NFL picks against the spread in Week 15.
— Here’s Bryan Kalbrosky’s first NBA Draft Big Board of the year.
— Mary Clarke picks the 10 weirdest Christmas songs of all time, and No. 1 is extremely wacky.
— Leave Landry Shamet alone with your parlays, please.