NFL owners will vote next week on whether teams will each receive a possession in overtime during the playoffs.
Under the current "sudden death" format, an overtime game ends when one team scores (which is what happened when the New Orleans Saints defeated the Minnesota Vikings in the NFC championship game).
Now, there's a proposal that would require each team to have a possession in overtime before losing in the playoffs. But if the team that falls behind by three points on the first series also kicks a field goal, then the game would continue under current sudden-death rules.
NFL competition committee chairman Rich McKay said this change has been proposed because the numbers show the team that wins the coin toss has a strong advantage.
According to McKay, teams that won the coin toss won 50 percent of overtime games from 1974 to 1993. Now, they are winning 59.8 percent of the time.
"Statistically, it is pretty clear there has been a change," McKay said. "We are trying to put in a system that emphasizes more skill and strategy as opposed to the randomness of the coin flip."
For this proposal to pass, 24 of the 32 teams need to vote in favor of it.