Chiefs Propose the Latest Rule Change Designed to Stop the Patriots From Winning
Source – The Chiefs lost the AFC Championship Game without their offense ever taking the field in overtime, and they don’t want that to happen again — to them or any other team.
And so, Chiefs General Manager Brett Veach said on PFT Live, Chiefs coach Andy Reid is working on a proposal to change the overtime rules and guarantee that each team would get an offensive possession.
“Coach is working on that,” Veach said. “I think everybody wants a chance for guys to do what they do. I don’t really see the downside of having that. Especially when you have a player like Pat Mahomes. It would have been a lot of fun. I think people, if they weren’t already tuned in for a great game, would have turned on that overtime.”
Pardon me for a moment.
Welcome to the NFL’s annual offseason tradition. I can’t even say the “newest” tradition because it’s been going on so many years now. Teams the Patriots have conquered have been crawling on their hands and knees to the Rules Committee and begging them to rewrite the rules in the name of “fairness” since the Bradichick Dynasty began. The Tuck Rule. The Pass Interference rules. Taping sidelines signals. The Ineligible Receiver rules. Outlawing jumping over the center to block kicks. The list goes on and on.
And now we’ve got a situation where both conference championship games went into overtime. In the NFL, a team won the coin toss and lost. In the AFC, a team won the flip and crammed the ball right down the defense’s gullet for the game-ending touchdown. So it sounds fair, right?
Wrong. That team was the Patriots, so then by all means drastic measures must be taken. Never mind that they converted three 3rd & 10s. They won because the rules are skewed in their favor and must be changed. Because the world can’t be denied the chance to see Pat Mahomes. Yeah, that’s it. It’s all about seeing Pat Mahomes. And not about the fact no one can stop Tom Brady in overtime.
No matter whether you think it’s a good proposal or not, let’s at least be adult about this. Let’s not lie to ourselves. If the Chiefs won that game, there is no rule change being talked about. If they had won the toss and marched down field and put in the end zone or if they had made a stop, force a punt and kicked a field goal, no one would be bringing this before the league in the name of helping TV ratings. For sure the Patriots wouldn’t be. Because they know they’d be called sore loser and laughed out of the room.
That said, bring it on. I hope it passes. It’ll be yet another set of rules under which they can prove their dominance. In the words of the great Tedy Bruschi, if you want to change the rules, change ‘em.
They’ll still play. And they’ll win. That’s what they do.
Or in the words of Quintus, people should know when they are conquered.