There’s a new wrinkle in the NFL postseason, a rule change tied in part to the finish to a classic playoff game last year in which the Kansas City Chiefs beat the Buffalo Bills with a touchdown on the opening possession of overtime, denying Buffalo’s powerful offense a chance to respond.
After a modification in March, each team will get at least one possession in overtime during the playoffs. Overtime rules were not changed for regular season games, so the new system has not been seen yet. Here’s how playoff OT works now, according to the NFL Operations manual:
The 2022 AFC divisional playoff game between the Bills and Chiefs in Kansas City that led to the rule change was, to put it mildly, wild. It featured seven lead changes, 10 touchdowns and 78 points — and 25 of those points were scored in the final two minutes of regulation. It ended in overtime when Patrick Mahomes completed a 75-yard drive by hitting Travis Kelce with the game-winning touchdown pass.
A shootout ending without one of the offenses getting a chance in overtime was hard for some to accept, and the loss was particularly deflating for quarterback Josh Allen and the Bills. “It sucks the way it happened. We wanted to win that game,” Allen told reporters. “I was taking it all in and holding on to that feeling, making sure we don’t feel like this again. Back-to-back years in the same spot [after losing, 38-24, to the Chiefs in the 2021 AFC championship game], it’s tough to take in, but it’s part of the game, part of the learning process.”
Mahomes could identify with Allen’s hollow feeling. He had just finished his second NFL season and was about to be named the MVP when he and the Chiefs hosted the AFC championship game in January 2019. The Chiefs lost that game to the New England Patriots, 37-31, in overtime, and Mahomes, who had passed for 295 yards and three touchdowns, never got his hands on the ball in the extra period.