Hall of Fame QB Joe Montana not a big fan of NFL’s overtime format

TORONTO — Joe Montana isn’t a big fan of the NFL’s overtime format.

On Sunday in the AFC title game, New England won the toss to secure the ball to begin overtime. Tom Brady then engineered a 15-play, 80-yard march Rex Burkhead capped with a two-yard TD run, giving the Patriots a 37-31 road win over the Kansas City Chiefs.

Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes and the NFL’s highest-scoring offence never saw the field in the extra session. And that bothered Montana, a four-time Super Bowl champion and three-time game MVP.

“It just doesn’t make sense that two teams that fought for how many games now, it’s tied at the end of the championship game and you don’t even get a chance to touch the ball,” said Montana, in town Tuesday doing promotional work with DAZN, the live on-demand service that will live stream the Super Bowl on Feb. 3. “I mean, they (Chiefs) should at least have an opportunity and not just these two teams, I mean in general.

“It doesn’t seem to be fair if somebody scores a TD you don’t have a chance. I think everyone from New England would be saying the same thing if Kansas City scored on the first possession of overtime.”

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Prior to the AFC championship, Montana — who finished his career with Kansas City (1993-94) — picked the Chiefs to win the Super Bowl.

Brady, 41, will make a ninth Super Bowl appearance and chase a sixth title — both records he already owns — when New England faces the Los Angeles Rams on Feb. 3 in Atlanta. Brady also holds the mark for most Super Bowl MVP awards (four).

Brady was born in San Mateo, Calif., and regularly attended San Francisco 49ers games in the 1980s. Brady listed the 62-year-old former Notre Dame star as his idol growing up.

A four-year-old Brady watched the ’81 NFC title game at Candlestick Park when Montana and Dwight Clark combined on The Catch. Montana’s six-yard TD strike on third down to Clark with 51 seconds remaining propelled San Francisco past Dallas 28-27 and kick-started the 49ers’ dynasty. Two weeks later, they defeated Cincinnati 26-21 in the Super Bowl.

Brady, a 2000 sixth-round draft pick from Michigan, has spent his entire 19-year NFL career in New England playing for head coach Bill Belichick. Montana, who was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2000 in his first year of eligibility, points to that as a big reason for Brady’s stunning NFL success.

“It’s just been consistency and that’s been his biggest thing,” Montana said. “When you’ve been in a system so long things are pretty much interchangeable, you can move parts in and out.

“Offensively you can have a wide receiver come and go here and there and you just keep interchanging. Look at (Pittsburgh’s Ben) Roethlisberger and (New Orleans’ Drew) Brees, guys who’ve been in the same spot for a long time and also had success. It comes from understanding the process and having the guys you’re playing with understanding what the offence is and what makes it work. If you can find people who are willing to do that, they don’t have to be the biggest, strongest or fastest. You’ve just got to get them to play within that system.”

Montana, nicknamed Joe Cool during his playing career for his calm demeanour in pressure situations, has great regard for what Brady has achieved. However, he also has great admiration for Otto Graham, another Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback who led the Cleveland Browns to the NFL title game each season from 1946-55, winning seven championships.

“If you look back at when Otto Graham did it, the game was totally different,” Montana said. “You could damn near tackle a receiver before he came off the ball.

“I mean I still marvel at what Tom’s been able to accomplish … but he (Graham) was so far ahead. I always say, ‘Just enjoy the game as it goes and who’s playing the best.’ Obviously Tom’s on top of that.”

Under 32-year-old sophomore head coach Sean McVay, the Rams finished the regular season second overall in scoring (32.9 points per game). Running back Todd Gurley was the NFL’s third-leading rusher (1,251 yards), quarterback Jared Goff was fourth in passing (4,688 yards) and defensive tackle Aaron Donald had a league/career-best 20.5 sacks.

But on Sunday in New Orleans, Goff was 24-of-40 passing for 297 yards with a TD and interception while Gurley ran for just 10 yards on four carries.

“New England has been in so many positions that I don’t think they care if they get ahead or behind,” Montana said. “You’ve just got a younger team on the other side and if they get behind like they did against the Saints, you can’t stop playing.

“If for some reason the Rams find themselves getting out way ahead, they just have to keep scoring because you can’t let the momentum switch on you. I’m sure coach McVay will give (Goff) things that will boost his confidence and get him into the game and not put pressure on him that way.”

Dan Ralph, The Canadian Press