Bills vs. Chiefs overtime rules: Why 2021 NFL classic changed the way OT works in playoffs

Edward Sutelan

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Bills vs. Chiefs overtime rules: Why 2021 NFL classic changed the way OT works in playoffs image

Plenty of NFL rivalry clashes have had a lasting impact on the sport. Few have led to a rule change.

The Chiefs and Bills have delivered plenty of stellar matchups in the eras of Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen. The two star quarterbacks have provided fans with back-and-forth slugfests, often with advancement in the postseason on the line.

The teams are split at an even 3-3. The Chiefs have outscored Buffalo 163-121. The stat that really matters is the playoff record, where the Chiefs are 2-0.

The most recent playoff win came in 2021, when in the AFC divisional round, the Chiefs out-lasted the Bills 42-36 in overtime. The game has many defining moments. Gabe Davis' go-ahead touchdown with 13 seconds left. The Chiefs' miraculous 13-second, game-tying drive. And Mahomes' march to the end zone in overtime for the game-winning score.

That game resulted in the NFL changing its overtime rules for the playoffs, a monumental change that has already had an impact since its change.

Revisiting Chiefs-Bills 2021 AFC divisional matchup

The Chiefs and Bills were trading punches in what will be considered by many to be among the greatest postseason games in modern history. 

At the end of the first quarter, it was a 7-7 game. At halftime, it was a 14-14 game. The third quarter ended in a 23-21 third quarter lead for the Chiefs. With 8:55 left, the Chiefs led 26-21.

The final two minutes of regulation are what turned the game from just a memorable contest to an all-timer. Allen hit Davis for a 27-yard touchdown with 1:54 left and converted on a 2-point try to make it a 3-point Bills lead.

It took the Chiefs only 52 seconds to respond with Tyreek Hill taking a Mahomes' pass 64 yards for a touchdown and a 33-29 lead with 1:02 to go.

With 13 seconds left, that's when Davis scored a 19-yard touchdown, giving the Bills the late, three-point lead. 

Rather than boot a squib kick to try and burn the clock, the Bills opted to send the ball into the end zone for a touchback, giving Mahomes and company all the time they needed with two timeouts remaining. Mahomes quickly found Hill for 19 yards up to the Chiefs' 44 and called a timeout with eight seconds left. Mahomes then hit Travis Kelce for 25 yards up to Buffalo's 31 and called another timeout with three seconds left. Harrison Butker drilled a 49-yard field goal to tie the game and send the contest to overtime.

As the teams prepared to go into overtime, each of the last five drives had ended in points. Three of them had ended in touchdowns. Given how the game had felt, most knew that the winner of the coin toss would go on to win the game.

Sure enough, it was the Chiefs that won the toss. Naturally, they elected to receive the kickoff. Kansas City began the drive with a run for four yards, then back-to-back passes for 5 and 10 yards, respectively. Another run preceded four straight pass attempts by Mahomes, going for 16, 4, 26 and 8 yards, the latter of which resulting in a game-winning touchdown to Kelce.

And that was that. The Bills had no chance to respond. A game that ended with a trading of punches as comparable to Ali-Frazier as many have seen in a football game ended because Allen and the Bills called tails, and tails faced the turf after a toss.

How Bills-Chiefs OT game changed NFL playoff rules

There's no telling if the Bills would have tied the game. Perhaps Buffalo's drive would have come up short. Many said the Bills had their chance to get the win by stopping Kansas City with 13 seconds left or to not allow an eight-play, game-winning drive by the Chiefs.

But the loss left a sour taste in the mouths of fans who had hoped the game would be decided on the field and not in the rulebook. And fans weren't alone.

The New York Times reported executives were among those called for the league to change the overtime rules that led to the game ending after a touchdown. Bills coach Sean McDermott also called out the rule, saying that the change would be "bittersweet."

“There has to be the latest example for change, and that was the last straw that now, hey, we need to move forward and do this,” McDermott said. “It’s the right thing for the game.”

Per the Times, the Chiefs had proposed that rule change after the 2018 season following an overtime loss to the Patriots in the same manner, losing on New England's opening drive in that season's AFC championship game. The updated proposal after the 2021 campaign was made by the Colts and Eagles, and was viewed as a starting point, only making the change for the postseason.

The report said Buffalo's loss to the Chiefs was brought up several times during the meeting in which the rule change was officially made.

“It’s potentially the greatest 20 to 30 minutes of football that I’ve ever seen,” Rich McKay, the Atlanta Falcons’ president and the chairman of the NFL’s competition committee, said, per the New York Times. “And to think it ended that way definitely brought up the idea of, hey, does that work for everybody?”

In March 2022, the rule change was made official. The league approved the new rules that gave each team a possession before a game could be made final, eliminating the importance of winning the coin toss and getting that first possession. 

There have been no postseason games in overtime since the rule change was made. The only overtime playoff game after the Bills-Chiefs game was Kansas City's next contest against the Bengals. The Chiefs, again, won the coin toss. This time, however, Mahomes was intercepted on Kansas City's drive and the Bengals kicked a game-winning field goal to punch their ticket to the Super Bowl.

Edward Sutelan

Edward Sutelan Photo

Edward Sutelan joined The Sporting News in 2021 after covering high school sports for PennLive. Edward graduated from The Ohio State University in 2019, where he gained experience covering the baseball, football and basketball teams. Edward also spent time working for The Columbus Dispatch and Cape Cod Times.