We’ve all seen games in the postseason reach overtime and end without one team even touching the football after regulation, most notably during the Chiefs-Bills shootout of 2022. I can’t think of any occasions involving the Falcons.
Clearly, the league has decided that is an issue, because yesterday the NFL announced new playoff overtime rules that will ensure both teams get a possession. There’s a note about safeties in there we’ll get to.
On first glance, it’s equitable enough. There are a couple of camps when it comes to overtime, the “just get a stop” group and the “it’s more fair if both teams have a shot” set, and the NFL is obviously swayed by the arguments of the latter at the moment.