The San Francisco 49ers would have won Monday’s Super Bowl with their three-point field goal in overtime, had the NRL’s sudden-death golden point rule applied.

The 49ers scored the first points in extra time but NFL rules demand both teams have use of the ball before post-season games are decided. The defending champions, the Kansas City Chiefs, scored a touchdown with eight seconds remaining in the scheduled overtime period, bettering the 49ers’ field goal and winning the Vince Lombardi Trophy.

In 2022, the NFL, recognising the injustice of a team losing in overtime in post-season games without touching the ball, changed the rule. The previous overtime rule stated the game would end if the first team to possess the ball in overtime scored a touchdown.

But note NRL rule makers, it was always golden touchdown, never golden goal.

If an NFL post-season game is still tied after two possessions, the team that scores next is declared the winner.

Under the old format, the NFL found that whichever team won the overtime coin toss had a significant advantage, winning more than 80 per cent of the time in playoff games from 2010 to 2021.

The Chiefs’ Mecole Hardman jnr and Patrick Mahomes celebrate the winning touchdown in overtime.Credit: Getty

The NRL must similarly change the rule, an amendment I advocated in this masthead late last year when rule changes were being contemplated. In a game last April, the Panthers defeated the Knights, without Newcastle touching the ball in golden point.

The duelling field goal match ended in a draw, with the Penrith’s Nathan Cleary kicking a further one-pointer 40 seconds into extra time.

QOSHE - What the NRL needs to copy from the Super Bowl … and it’s not Taylor Swift - Roy Masters
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What the NRL needs to copy from the Super Bowl … and it’s not Taylor Swift

9 1
14.02.2024

The San Francisco 49ers would have won Monday’s Super Bowl with their three-point field goal in overtime, had the NRL’s sudden-death golden point rule applied.

The 49ers scored the first points in extra time but NFL rules demand both teams have use of the ball before post-season games are decided. The defending champions, the Kansas City Chiefs, scored a touchdown with eight seconds remaining in the scheduled........

© The Sydney Morning Herald


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