After a wild fourth quarter that saw the Kansas City Chiefs and Buffalo Bills score a combined 28 points with four lead changes and one tie, one of the most epic NFL playoff games came down to one thing.
A coin flip.
Per the NFL’s overtime rules, if the team that starts with the ball scores a touchdown, that’s it. It’s over. The way Buffalo’s Josh Allen and KC’s Pat Mahomes played — especially in the last 15 minutes of the game — this essentially meant that whichever team won the coin toss would win the game.
Mahomes needed just seven plays to go 67 yards and find tight end Travis Kelce for the walk-off win. He finished with 378 yards passing with three touchdowns, and Allen kept pace with 329 yards and four touchdowns.
Rarely does an extraordinarily hyped game live up to the moment. Sunday night, we got one of the best games in recent history. Neither defense did much, but it wasn’t really about them. This was about Mahomes vs. Allen, and we were robbed of a potentially more epic finish.
How about for the playoffs, each team gets a chance with the ball in OT? Play the full 15-minute period. Let us see as much Mahomes and Allen as humanly possible. It would only be good.
The internet was understandably furious.