Boston media rubs Travis Kelce’s old overtime stance in his face after Chiefs beat Bills
By Mike Luciano
The New England Patriots were dealt a sobering dose of reality during the shootout between Josh Allen’s Buffalo Bills and Patrick Mahomes’ Kansas City Chiefs. These two guys are going to go back and forth in bouts for supremacy of this conference for years to come.
The win didn’t come without some controversy, however. Despite Allen saving the Bills from defeat twice in the closing minutes, Mahomes forced overtime and eventually pulled out a 42-36 win. Allen did not get a chance to touch the ball after going up 36-33.
Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce has to be thrilled with the fact that his team is moving on. This is all thanks to a rule where a touchdown on the first possession of overtime grants you a win. Kelce wasn’t always so big on this rule, though, and neither were the Chiefs, as it cost Kansas City another chance to go to the Super Bowl.
When the Patriots knocked the Chiefs out of the postseason on their way to Super Bowl victory No. 6 in 2019, Kelce was adamantly against this rule, claiming that games were being decided by 50-50 coin flips. NBC Sports Boston retweeted the video, challenging Kelce to defend his stance now that he benefitted from it.
Still feel this way @tkelce? 👀 https://t.co/ACH4hzeQ3p
— NBC Sports Boston's Patriots Coverage (@NBCSPatriots) January 24, 2022
The New England Patriots benefitted from the overtime rules and the Chiefs complained about it.
Both sides to this argument are valid. On one hand, the Chiefs’ win probability went up by as much as 12 points due to the coin flip. Allen had to sit on the bench and watch Mahomes end his season without responding. It seems unfair to not allow Allen to answer Mahomes’ challenge because of that rule.
On the other hand, Buffalo deserves blame for being unable to stop Kansas City on defense. As Louis Riddick pointed out, only 21.5% of games under the new overtime rules have been determined on the first possession, so losing the coin flip is not a death sentence. It also would’ve helped if the defense didn’t allow 44 yards in 10 seconds to allow the Chiefs to tie the game before regulation ended.
Of the 163 OT games (regular season + playoffs) under the current OT rules, ONLY 35 of the 163 were decided by TDs on the first possession of overtime. 21.5% !!!! Don’t tell me coin flips are deciding games in OT. Strategy and execution does !!!! @EliasSports
— Louis Riddick (@LRiddickESPN) January 25, 2022
It seems like Kelce only wants to overturn this rule because of what happened in 2019. Why couldn’t his defense get a stop at home against Tom Brady? Why couldn’t Bob Sutton do anything to slow down Brady in overtime? Why couldn’t Dee Ford line up onside?
The Chiefs’ request to change the OT rules after the 2019 season was also rejected by the NFL, so this was clearly an organizational stance after the team suffered that overtime loss to Brady and the Pats. Things change when you’re not on the short end of the stick, it seems.