Super Bowl LI was decided by a coin flip, no matter what else you hear. The first time that an NFL title game reached overtime since 1958, and it came down to a coin toss. That is no way to settle the Super Bowl.

Yes, the Atlanta Falcons blew the game, and maybe they didn’t deserve to have a chance in overtime. However, that is not the point. When the NFL redesigned its overtime rules back in 2010, the idea was to make it more equitable and less dependent on a coin toss (i.e., luck).

Ooops.

Many are stating the obvious: The Super Bowl was ruined by the rules. Since 1996, college football has been using a fair and equitable system that works and is quite exciting. Why the NFL has lagged behind the college game in this regard is a mystery, really.

The NFL is the highest level of American football competition, and its fans deserve to have the best overtime system in place. That didn’t happen on Super Sunday, sadly. Give credit where it is due, in regards to the winning team, but imagine a scenario where both teams were given the chance to win the game in overtime.

That’s the American way, or at least it used to be.