Getty Cheiefs QB Patrick Mahomes (left) and Bills QB Josh Allen (right).
Patrick Mahomes appears to still be sore about the rule change that came after his team knocked off the Buffalo Bills in the playoffs two years ago.
Mahomes led the Kansas City Chiefs to a 25-22 overtime victory over the San Francisco 49ers on February 11, winning the 2024 Super Bowl thanks in part to a rule change that came out of one of the most crushing losses in Bills history.
After the Super Bowl, Mahomes twisted the knife a bit for Bills fans with a reference to that infamous game, won by the Chiefs 42-36 in overtime on January 23, 2022, in the AFC’s divisional round.
Patrick Mahomes Benefits From New Overtime Rules
Sunday’s game was just the second time that the Super Bowl had gone to overtime, and the first since the NFL instituted new rules ensuring that each team gets at least one possession. The rule was changed following the 2022 postseason, when the Bills took the lead against the Chiefs with 13 seconds remaining but failed to hold it, allowing Mahomes to move his team into position for a game-tying field goal and then march down the field to win on the first possession in overtime.
After major backlash to that game, the NFL changed the rule to allow each team to have at least one possession — which ended up being a major benefit for the Chiefs on in the Super Bowl. The 49ers won the overtime coin toss and scored a field goal on the first drive, but Mahomes was able to lead his team on a 13-play, 75-yard game-winning touchdown drive on the next possession.
Mecole Hardman did not know overtime rule so Patrick Mahomes had to tell him that they had just won the Super Bowl:
“I said, ‘Dude, we just won the Super Bowl.’ He had no idea. He didn’t even celebrate at the beginning.”
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As Scott Chasen of the Kansas City Star noted on X, Mahomes referred to the infamous “13 seconds” game in his remarks after the Super Bowl.
“We changed the rule, so we can execute it both ways. I don’t know how they’re going to change it this time,” Mahomes said.
Chasen added in an article published after the game that Mahomes still appeared miffed that the league had changed the rule after his team’s victory over the Bills.
“Patrick Mahomes never forgets a slight,” Chasen wrote. “He keeps bulletin-board material on hand, and he isn’t afraid to let you know about it. Even if it comes from the NFL.”
NFL Passed on Buffalo’s Proposal
While Mahomes may still be sore that the league changed the overtime rule after his team knocked Buffalo out of the playoffs, it was not actually the Bills that lobbied for that specific change. SI.com wrote in 2022 that Bills general manager Brandon Beane petitioned the league to do away with sudden death overtime altogether and instead move to a timed period.
“We definitely put our stamp on one,” Beane told reporters at the NFL Scouting Combine in 2022. “Ours is going to be more, without getting into detail, instead of one possession and then another possession, is the time. You know, similar to basketball. You play five minutes of basketball, both teams get it. You know, baseball, there’s the top half and the bottom half [of an inning].”
The Chiefs were actually in favor of the new overtime rules as well. As the Kansas City Star noted after the “13 seconds” game, the Chiefs had proposed their own change to overtime rules after they lost in overtime Tom Brady and the New England Patriots in the 2019 AFC Championship game without getting a chance to possess the ball. It was not approved at the time.