The NFL’s current format in overtime is that if the team with possession first scores a touchdown, the game is over. Any other outcome, the other team gets a possession.

NFL overtime rules have been long hated by fans, despite minor changes the league has made along the way. The Kansas City Chiefs vs Buffalo Bills divisional playoff game highlighted exactly why fans hate the current overtime rules.

In that game, the Chiefs won the coin toss that began overtime, meaning they would get first possession. Patrick Mahomes marched the Chiefs down the field in just eight plays for the game-winning touchdown, while Bills quarterback, Josh Allen, could only watch from the sidelines, never even getting the opportunity to touch the ball in OT.

Obviously, for many football fans, this seems highly unfair that in most cases like this game the winner comes down to who wins the coin toss. A playoff game makes this rule process very public; however, it happens all the time. In the last 12 overtime playoff games, the coin toss winner has won the game 10 times, seven of those times the coin toss winner won by scoring a touchdown in the first possession.

NFL fans like Idaho Falls resident Jeremy Nelson says “These rules need to change. It is totally unfair for a team to advance in the playoffs because they won a coin toss. This is not Vegas. It was heartbreaking to see the Bills offense sit on the bench and not even get the chance to try to score.”

After the public outcry this post-season, maybe the NFL will look closer at the NCAA overtime rules or other options entirely.

This article originally appeared in The Oracle

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