While the proposal the Titans put forward to alter the overtime rules ultimately did not go through, Tennessee head coach Mike Vrabel was still pleased with the result from this week’s annual league meeting.
Owners passed the Colts and Eagles proposal for the postseason on Tuesday, which means that each team is guaranteed a possession in overtime. The catalyst for the change was the Bills and Chiefs thriller that ended after Kansas City’s first OT drive ended in a touchdown.
Vrabel, a member of the NFL’s competition committee, said the league wanted to start with the postseason before making the change permanent for all regular-season games.
“Those numbers are pretty strong for the team that takes possession of the football first, whether that’s on the first drive or the third drive,” Vrabel said, via Jim Wyatt of the Titans’ website. “So, it’s a very good step to try and allow each of these offenses, especially these quarterbacks that we are seeing, allow them to have an impact on the football game.”
If the new rule had been in effect last year, the Bills-Chiefs game would have continued after tight end Travis Kelce‘s overtime touchdown. But nothing would have been different about the AFC Championship Game, during which the Bengals picked off quarterback Patrick Mahomes early on in the overtime period. Cincinnati defeated Kansas City to advance to Super Bowl LVI.