Here come the critics, demanding an overhaul of the NFL overtime system after Patrick Mahomes stood helpless on the sidelines Sunday evening as the New England Patriots drove for an overtime touchdown to beat the Kansas City Chiefs 37-31.
And so it was that one of the participants in Super Bowl LIII in Atlanta was determined as if it were a game of chance.
Except, of course, that it wasn’t a coin flip that decided the game. It was the Chiefs’ horrible defense that denied Mahomes and put the Patriots in the Super Bowl.
My response? Overtime has been fine since 2012, the first year in the current format, which mandates that the receiving team couldn’t simply work its way into field goal range and then trot out the place kicker to win the game.
Overtime isn’t about Mahomes any more than it was about Tom Brady, Jared Goff or Drew Brees. It was about the Chiefs, Patriots, Rams and Saints and the 46 active players each team put on the field.
Mahomes didn’t deserve a possession any more than Mike Trout should be guaranteed an at-bat in the bottom of the ninth when he’s scheduled to hit fourth and the opposing closer strikes out the side before he has a chance to hit.
All the Chiefs had to do to get Mahomes and Co. the ball and not allow a touchdown. They weren’t up to it, and a season-long issue proved to be their death knell. The Chiefs were on the field for 94 snaps on defense and never sacked Brady. New England didn’t have a negative play other than a kneel-down. The Chiefs never made a play all night on the other side of the line.
Does that sound like a championship-worthy defense?
So Mahomes met the same fate as other illustrious quarterbacks of past postseasons including Atlanta’s Matt Ryan (against the Patriots in Super Bowl LI) and Green Bay’s Aaron Rodgers (in the divisional round against Arizona following 2015 season).
Each watched their defense gave up touchdowns on the opening possession.
When the NFL altered the rules in 2012, it prevented a team from winning a coin toss, putting together a couple of first downs and then playing conservatively in hopes of winning on a place kick.
It doesn’t need to go beyond that. What makes the NFL overtime special is the entire “sudden death” philosophy. Former NFL officiating czar and Fox Sports analyst Dean Blandino was a voice of reason in a sea of Twitter discord about the rule.
“Like it or not NFL overtime adheres to one basic premise — sudden death,” Blandino said via Twitter. “The game can end on any play at any moment. Would be a mistake to change that.”
The NFL made its reputation on a sudden-death game when the Baltimore Colts beat the New York Giants in the so-called “Greatest Game Ever Played” in 1958 to win the championship. It all worked perfectly that day, as the Giants went three and out on their first possession and then Johnny Unitas drove the Colts 80 yards for a touchdown on a 1-yard run by Alan Ameche.
Both teams had their shot, with place kicking not being the science that it is now, the Colts went ahead and drove for the touchdown rather than end it on a place kick.
The current format retains “sudden death” but also keeps offenses aggressive in that they know they can win with a touchdown rather than turning the extra period into something outside the norm. It keeps the integrity of the sport in check in that it doesn’t turn into something else entirely.
That’s the problem with the college overtime system, in which teams alternately possess the ball beginning at he opponent’s 25-yard line, a system that completely changes the sport as it’s meant to be played in terms of strategy and field position.
I got a kick out of former Team USA soccer star Alexi Lalas chiming in with his two cents on Twitter: “That’s ridiculous. A coin flip.”
To which the first reply was: “Could be worse. Could be penalty kicks.”
And while, yes, both teams get a chance to take their penalty kicks, the fact remains that soccer is played one way throughout regulation and overtime and then settled in a way that bastardizes the final result.
The way overtime is played in the NFL gives the defense a chance to make a statement in an era heavily weighted to offense. If the Chiefs could have made a single defensive play against Brady and the Patriots to either hold them scoreless or to a field goal in overtime, then Mahomes would have gotten his shot.
When that didn’t happen, it exposed the Chiefs for what they were — a team that was too inadequate on defense to be a champion. There was no blaming that on the rules.