The 2009 NFC Championship Game was a classic game featuring two future Hall of Fame quarterbacks in Brett Favre and Drew Brees. The Vikings battled the Saints in the Superdome to a 28-28 tie after four quarters. New Orleans won the coin toss, giving Brees and the offense the ball first. The Saints appeared to go three-and-out, but an incomplete pass on third down was negated by a defensive holding penalty. The Saints got to the Vikings 41-yard line, and a pass interference penalty gave them another 12 yards. A couple of minutes later, and Garrett Hartley hit a 40-yard field goal to send New Orleans to the Super Bowl.

It was an anticlimactic ending to a great game. After battling for four quarters, the Saints — aided by a pair of penalties — drove 39 yards in 10 plays to set up a chip shot field goal and won the game. The coin toss was too significant a factor in the game, critics felt, especially as kickers were becoming automatic at longer and longer distances.

So beginning in 2011, the NFL changed the rules: the team that wins the coin toss can’t win the game on a field goal. It must score a touchdown, or else the other team would get the ball, too. That would make the flip of the coin a bit less valuable, or so we were told.

Since then, there have been 11 overtime games played during the NFL playoffs. The team that won the coin toss has won 10 of those games. Let’s walk down memory lane: [continue reading…]