A Grip on Sports: The fog lifts on Tuesday, and we discover a new thought or two about the NFL’s overtime and other items

A GRIP ON SPORTS • Tuesdays are supposed to be for tacos, right? Hot and spicy. Or, when you get to the point in life when hot and spicy keep you up all night, then many and mild is better. Today we offer a taco bar of sorts, though we’re holding the Tapatio.

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• The spiciest take we can pass along today? The NFL doesn’t need to fix its overtime rules.

Are they perfect? Probably not. But what would be? Every way to break a tie in every sport has proponents and detractors. The college football rule is not ideal. Soccer’s penalty kick fiasco certainly isn’t. Same for hockey and its shootout. The NFL doesn’t have the market cornered on stupidity, that’s for sure.

Which brings us to the end of the Bills overtime loss in Kansas City. Everyone and their uncle are screaming about how a coin toss decided the game. We may have even played into that hysteria some.

Uh, everyone, including us, has been wrong.

The coin toss stupidity is just one aspect of the last few seconds that tipped the outcome toward the Chiefs.

The last 13 seconds of regulation, when Kansas City was able to travel from its 25 to far enough in Buffalo’s side of the field to kick the game-tying field goal, was filled with mistakes and magnificent plays. The Chiefs made the latter, the Bills the former. How the heck KC was able to chew up 44 yards in nine seconds – throw in the decision to kick the ball through the end zone if you want, which allowed Kansas City to gain 25 yards without any time running off the clock – is a example of one team being perfect in execution and the other not.

Get a stop. One stop on one play. And the overtime rules don’t matter.

• We are rooting for Cincinnati and the Rams this Sunday. Not sure either will win, but it’s who were want to advance to the Super Bowl.

• Spokesman-Review columnist Shawn Vestal doesn’t agree with John Stockton’s opinions about the COVID-19 vaccine. Nor with the basketball legend’s thoughts on the mask mandate, the enforcement of which means Stockton won’t be in his usual spot cheering on the Zags during home games.

But it isn’t those opinions Shawn eviscerates Stockton over this morning. Well, let us just say that is not all Shawn digs into.

Instead, he focuses on the heart of the matter. Wearing a mask in a crowded public space is just a matter of simple courtesy. Thinking of others. Respecting them. Being a good teammate. Failing in those areas is what got Stockton banned.

• COVID-19 has wreaked havoc on high school basketball schedules recently. But looking at today’s listing of local games, it seems as if things are starting to get closer to normal.

That’s good. After all, playoffs for winter sports are just around the corner. A month from now many schools’ season will be over and others will be fighting for state berths.

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Gonzaga: The fallout from Stockton’s ticket suspension continued to reverberate nationally and locally. Shawn has his column this morning, which we linked above. And Justin Reed covers the fallout. … On the court – sort of – the Zags’ Chet Holmgren won another West Coast Conference award. Theo Lawson has that story. … Theo also has the poll story as Gonzaga drops to second behind Auburn. … If you enjoy hearing folks talk about the Zags, the S-R has a podcast for you. It features Jim Meehan, John Blanchette and Richard Fox. You can listen here or on the usual podcast platforms. … Around the WCC, BYU’s women, ranked 16th, blew past San Diego. … The San Diego men lost in overtime against Santa Clara. … BYU’s men hope to be ranked soon.

WSU: The quarterback room next season will have another resident. The Cougars have received a commitment from a Texas high school senior. Colton Clark has more in this story. … Gabe Marks is putting his WSU degree (and others as well) to good use. The Times’ Scott Hansen tells us Marks is blending his clinical psychology master’s degree and his football experience into what Marks hopes will be a future counseling athletes that need mental health help. … Elsewhere in the Pac-12 and college basketball, Jon Wilner delves into the recently announced UCLA and Arizona makeup games in the Mercury News. As Wilner succinctly says, “… during COVID, suboptimal is the new ideal.” Nothing is perfect when it comes to playing hoops at any level right now. … Speaking of those two schools, they meet tonight in Los Angeles. It’s not optimal to be playing a top-10 showdown on a Tuesday night but it is what we have. … USC hosted Arizona State last night and routed the Sun Devils despite a slow start. … Can Colorado bounce back? … Utah is relying on young players, which isn’t always a recipe for success. … Arizona’s newest star has a belief built through some tragedy. … In women’s basketball, Colorado has been hit harder by the rescheduling shuffle than anyone. … In football news, no, the Rose Bowl isn’t the reason why the playoffs are not expanding right now. … Washington picked up another transfer, this one a linebacker from Pitt. … Oregon State has filled a hole in its coaching staff. … Oregon has a big hole at running back with CJ Verdell staying in the NFL draft and Travis Dye in L.A. … Brian Billick is taking a role with Arizona State’s program. … Is Caleb Williams going to end up at USC?

EWU: The Eagles raced past Idaho State in Pocatello on Monday night, ruining ISU coach Ryan Looney’s return to the bench after a non-COVID-19-related illness. Dan Thompson has the game story. … The Eagle women lost at home to Northern Arizona. … Eric Barriere and Corey Kispert are local athletes in the running for Seattle sports awards. That news and other items are part of our local briefs column. … When it mattered most, Cooper Kupp picked up the Rams and carried them to victory. … Around the Big Sky, Montana State’s quarterback is recovering from surgery. He suffered an injury early in the FCS title game loss. … In basketball, Weber State defeated Southern Utah.

Idaho: The Vandals picked up their second consecutive conference win, this one 84-79 at Portland State.

Seahawks: The NFC West is pretty darn good.

Mariners: If you have questions about the M’s as the offseason rolls on, we can offer some answers.

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• The month is winding down. Time to pay bills. There was a time in our lives we had to figure out which bills we could pay on time and which we had to put off until the next paycheck. That’s not the case anymore and we count our blessings every day. It’s also why we have sympathy for those who are still dealing with such issues. Hopefully, they will be where we are some day. Until later …