Two Eye-Opening Stats Highlight Why The NFL Needs To Revamp Its Overtime Rules

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• A couple of stats showing the advantage NFL teams who win the coin toss have in overtime highlight a major issue
• The league’s overtime rules came under fire after the Chiefs defeated the Bills in a walk-off victory in the playoffs
• Read more football news here

On Sunday night, a slate of games that many NFL fans immediately dubbed “The Greatest Weekend Of Football Ever Played” came to an end after the Kansas City Chiefs capped off one of the most improbable late-game comebacks of all time before punching their ticket to the AFC Championship Game when Patrick Mahomes connected with Travis Kelce to end the contest on the first drive of overtime.

That development left a sour taste in the mouth of more than a few people, as it was an objective shame that Josh Allen and the Bills offense didn’t even get the chance to take the field in the extra period after losing the coin toss due to the league’s overtime policy.

Allen gave a vintage Football Guy answer when he was asked about the rule that deprived him of a chance to respond to the walk-off touchdown, but plenty of other people were more than happy to voice their displeasure with the regulations that had already been the subject of plenty of criticism before the most recent firestorm.

There’s no clear consensus on exactly what the NFL’s overtime rules should look like, but with that said, it’s pretty clear something needs to change—especially when you consider a couple of stats that make it impossible to ignore the advantage that’s given to the team that wins the coin toss.

On Monday, football analyst Brett Kollman posted a couple of eye-opening stats highlighting that advantage; while the odds of calling heads or tails correctly may be 50-50, the odds of winning the game skyrocket for the team that earns the right to attempt to score first—which they do the vast majority of the time.

You have to imagine this is going to be a hot topic of conversation in the offseason, but I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.