Thirty-one points, four quarters, two elite teams, two phenomenal quarterbacks and what decides the fate of the AFC Championship game? A coin flip and the possibility of only one team touching the ball. On Sunday, January 20, 2019, the Kansas City Chiefs had the opportunity of going to their first Super Bowl in 49 years ripped away from them due to a coin flip. The Chiefs had come back from not scoring at all in the first half to scoring 31 points, 24 of those points being in the fourth quarter. The AFC Championship game kept America on the edge of their seats the whole time and ended with the most unworthy result. Due to the rules the NFL has put into place for overtime, most of America knew the Patriots had won the game as soon as the coin showed they had possession of the ball in overtime. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the rules, here they are in layman’s terms: whoever wins the coin toss receives possession of the ball in overtime. If the team who receives the ball first scores a touchdown on their opening drive, this team automatically wins the game, if this team kicks a field goal, the other team still has a chance to score a touchdown (and win the game) or kick a field goal which ties the game. If this happens, the game goes into a ‘sudden death’ type of rule and whoever scores next wins the game. Now you may be thinking that seems fair, but you would be wrong.

The fact that the other team never even gets to touch the ball in overtime if scored on the opening drive is absolutely ridiculous. Most teams (especially in a conference championship game) would score on the opening drive, which means the other team lost because of a coin flip. The other team should at least have a fighting chance of scoring in overtime (especially in a conference championship game) rather than just sitting there and accepting their fate.

Now I don’t only believe this because it was my team that lost. This has happened to many people in many games and a lot of people believe this. Angry fans constantly take to social media apps like Twitter to ask for changes. Even legendary and well respected sports journalist, Stephen A. Smith, believes that the overtime rules are beyond dumb. There is a common solution that many people have suggested; conform to the overtime rules that the NCAA follows in college football, where both teams get a chance to have possession no matter how the coin tosses.

All in all, the NFL overtime rules need to be revamped. Don’t believe me? Ask the Packers, the Vikings, the Saints, the 49er’s, most definitely the Chiefs or any other team that had their heart ripped out in overtime and stomped on by the fact that they don’t get to go on the field other than to shake hands with the quarterback that actually got to play.