Tonight, in an electrifying game between the Buffalo Bills and the Kansas City Chiefs, we watched an electrifying matchup of these two offensive juggernauts with shocking defenses brawl it out for 60 minutes of incredible football. Fans around the nation, in their living rooms, at bars, or on Twitter, were hyping this up as one of-if not the-greatest playoff games of all time. Such a beautiful way to cap off an electric divisional round weekend, even for me: a fan of a team who is well past eliminated from the playoffs.

What followed was a coin flip going in favor of Kansas City, and as soon as Patrick Mahomes made his first completion I got a sinking feeling in my stomach: this is it for this game. And sure enough, Andy Reid's offense trotted down the field and we never got to see Allen with the ball again, and off the Chiefs go with another AFC championship.

But these Chiefs fans may remember before Super Bowl 53, when their QB had his stat-shattering MVP season. This same situation happened in this same stadium against the Patriots in the AFC Championship, where divisive calls and the NFL's rules never allowed the Chiefs to have the ball again, sending Brady to his sixth ring and the Chiefs back home.

This happens every year. I've yet to hear a single person defend these rules as being more entertaining for the league than alternatives. What the NFL can do to right this problem that feels like it arises in the playoffs every year or two is to simply model what college football does, save for a couple of changes. I have what the league can consider laid out right here:

• The first thing is most prudent: abandon this current structure entirely of the first possession carry the weight it does. What I would love to see is a reform to make the overtime period simply a "fifth quarter", this being 10 minutes long (much like current NFL overtimes).
• A coin toss would commence, where the captain would choose whether to keep or defer the ball.
• The game commences, with all rules functioning exactly as they would in the final two minutes of a game - with reviews and turnovers getting the same care as they would at the end of a half.
• If both teams are tied by the end of this quarter in the regular season, the game would end in a frustrating tie, which teams have to live with. However, in playoffs, of course, a tie can't be possible with that level of elimination, so a second overtime quarter would commence.
• - EVERYTHING THIS POINT ON IS PLAYOFFS-ONLY -
• I am preferential to the college rules, where extra points are now forbidden for the next ten minutes, with a coin flip to decide who begins. Every time a team scores a touchdown, they MUST go for a 2-point conversion. This adds more tension and allows for a narrower chance to pull ahead.
• At this point, the game has gone for 80 minutes, and it is likely both teams' offenses and defenses are exhausted. If there is still a tied score, I would love to see what college decided to do this year, which led to electric conclusions to two games this year (specifically Penn State/Illinois and Auburn/Alabama), where every overtime sequentially is the teams alternating 2-point conversion plays instead of offensive possessions. At the beginning of the third overtime, a final coin flip will commence which will decide the alternating order until the game ends.
• The game ends when one team attains a lead over the other at the conclusion of an overtime period, or it continues if both teams either 1) score or 2) fail to convert. Again, this goes until one team ends with a lead.

This is the fairest way to minimize the risk for injury (due to fatigue at the end of a game) and keep the game as competitive as possible. The Chiefs in January 2019 were infuriated due to the lack of opportunity to get the ball back and score at the beginning of overtime, as it simply was not fair for that vaunted offense. I have a strong feeling the Bills tonight feel the exact same way.

I hope this petition can go viral enough for the NFL to take notice and, hopefully, realize how nobody actually likes the rules in place and can take steps to change. This will allow games like tonight to go out in as legendary ways as regulation went, as opposed to the whimper felt by anyone not in Kansas City as the Chiefs drove downfield against an exhausted defense. I hope you can share this with anyone that feels the same.