THE CHEAP SEATS with STEVE CAMERON: Here's how we fix the silly NFL playoff overtime format

First of all …

Thanks for the stacks and stacks of suggestions and, yes, they all addressed the same subject.

Of course they did.

How should the NFL change its playoff overtime format, which was described (among other terms) as silly, ridiculous, unfair, stupid and …

What the hell are they thinking?

You already know this, certainly, but the outpouring of frustration about OT follows last weekend’s Kansas City-Buffalo shootout.

Everyone agrees that it was a brilliant game, showcasing two fantastic young quarterbacks in Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen.

Ah, but the way the Chiefs survived for a 42-36 victory to reach Sunday’s AFC title game against Cincinnati?

(Imagine a loud, long scream …)

The issue, obviously, was the NFL’s insistence on deciding these games with a coin toss.

OK, the coin flip doesn’t OFFICIALLY decide the winner, but it comes pretty close.

IF YOU win the toss and start on offense, the odds are pretty close to overwhelming that you’re going to drive down and score a game-ending touchdown.

Maybe in a 13-13 regular-season defensive slugfest, this might not be the case.

On the other hand …

After four quarters of struggling to contain the fireworks set off by Mahomes and Allen, the Chiefs’ and Bills’ defenses were basically out of gas.

Helpless.

Barring a fluke turnover, neither team was going to get a stop.

Ironically, the Chiefs were on the losing end of a coin toss in the AFC championship game in 2018, and offered little defensive resistance as Tom Brady took the Patriots downfield to earn a spot in the Super Bowl.

All of you who wrote to say that it doesn’t seem fair to lose a coin flip, and thus never get to run another play, well …

I agree.

Chiefs coach Andy Reid feels that way, too, despite his good fortune against Buffalo.

Reid and Baltimore coach John Harbaugh led an effort to change the playoff rules a few years ago, but their plan — which involved a guarantee that both teams would get the ball on offense — was voted down.

This time, I think maybe the NFL is listening.

There have been dozens of alternative overtime formats suggested, but all of them feature some method of getting the ball in the hands of both teams before a winner is declared.

EXACTLY how overtime should be tweaked to make it fair for everyone, however, can be complicated.

You’re probably guessing that I have a plan.

And you’re right.

The first part of it is absurdly simple …

The game should just continue after the fourth quarter, with a limit of 15 minutes.

The thriller last Sunday would have been restarted with the Chiefs kicking off (after they attempted a normal PAT).

From there, both teams would just play it out under the regular rules, with no sudden death or anything of the sort.

If either team scores — touchdown or field goal — they kick off just as they would in the fourth quarter.

If the game is still tied after the 15 minutes (unlikely, since one or both coaches would probably start shooting for two-point conversions), then the format would revert to the one used in college football — with a single change.

Each team would get the ball at the opposing 25-yard line, and if there’s no tiebreaker, they’d repeat those possessions.

But …

Unlike in college, teams would have to go for two-point conversions after every TD, more or less forcing the finish to come quickly.

Doesn’t that sound simple and reasonable?

WHOOPS!

Excuse me, I have to run.

Roger Goodell is on the phone.

Email: [email protected]

Steve Cameron’s “Cheap Seats” columns appear in The Press on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. He also writes Zags Tracker, a commentary on Gonzaga basketball which is published weekly during the season.

Steve suggests you take his opinions in the spirit of a Jimmy Buffett song: “Breathe In, Breathe Out, Move On.”