NFL Overtime Coin Toss Confusion: A Growing Problem the League Needs to Address
Another week, another overtime coin toss gone sideways. Sunday night’s matchup between the Denver Broncos and Washington Commanders gave us more than just late-game drama-it also highlighted a growing issue with how NFL officials are handling the overtime procedure.
And it’s not just a one-off. This is starting to look like a pattern.
Let’s rewind to the moment things got murky. As overtime was set to begin, referee Land Clark brought the captains together at midfield for the coin toss.
Standard stuff. Since the Broncos were the visiting team, Denver quarterback Bo Nix got to call the toss.
The Commanders won it, and that’s when things started to unravel.
Commanders punter Tress Way stepped up and said, “We’re going to kick that way.” Now, here’s where the process broke down.
According to NFL overtime rules, the team that wins the toss gets to choose either to kick/receive or select which direction to play. Not both.
But Way’s phrasing-short, confident, and maybe a little too efficient-essentially made both decisions in one sentence.
Clark paused, repeated Way’s choice back to him, and confirmed it multiple times. And just like that, Washington was set to kick off and Denver got the ball going in the direction Way had picked.
No challenge from Nix or the Broncos’ captains. The game moved on.
And for Denver, it worked out just fine. They took the opening possession down the field for a touchdown and held off Washington’s two-point attempt after a score of their own. Crisis averted on the scoreboard-but not in terms of the rulebook.
This isn’t an isolated incident. Just last week, a similar mistake happened in the Giants-Lions game.
Russell Wilson, yes-that Russell Wilson-was out for the overtime coin toss as a Giants captain. He chose both the ball and direction, and the officials allowed it.
Detroit got the ball, drove for a touchdown, and the Giants couldn’t answer. Game over.
Same story, different week.
On November 16, it was Carolina’s turn. Panthers quarterback Bryce Young made the same kind of call-ball and direction in one go.
Officials let it slide. The Falcons went three-and-out, and the Panthers capitalized with a game-winning field goal.
Even overseas, the confusion followed. On November 9 in Berlin, the Colts-Falcons game saw officials botch the process so badly they had to redo the coin toss during a commercial break.
Initially, the Colts were incorrectly allowed to call the toss as the designated home team. The redo gave Atlanta the ball, but they came up empty, and the Colts walked it off with a Jonathan Taylor touchdown.
So that’s four games in less than a month where the overtime coin toss didn’t follow league protocol. And in each case, the team that benefited from the mistake ended up winning. That’s not a coincidence-it’s a competitive edge, whether intentional or not.
The NFL’s overtime rules have evolved to ensure both teams get a fair shot. Under current rules, each team is guaranteed a possession unless the first team to get the ball scores a touchdown and converts a two-point attempt.
That’s already a strategic wrinkle-teams now have to weigh whether to start with the ball or try to get a stop and gain field position. But when the coin toss procedure itself isn’t being enforced correctly, it undermines that strategy entirely.
The direction of play matters, especially in late-season games where weather, wind, and field conditions can play a major role. Giving one team the ability to choose both possession and direction-intentionally or not-tilts the field, literally and figuratively.
The league hasn’t commented yet on the recent officiating miscues, but this is a problem that needs a fix, fast. As playoff races tighten and every possession becomes more meaningful, these coin toss errors could end up impacting seeding-or worse, playoff outcomes.
The NFL prides itself on precision, especially in moments that decide games. But if referees continue to mishandle something as fundamental as the coin toss, it’s only a matter of time before one of these errors becomes a headline for the wrong reason.