NFL overtime has changed in recent years, and the rules now give both teams a chance to touch the ball. Here is how overtime works in the regular season and in the playoffs.
How regular-season overtime works
If a game is tied after four quarters, the teams play an overtime period of up to 10 minutes. Since 2025, both teams are guaranteed a possession in the regular season, even if the first team scores a touchdown. If the score is still tied after both teams have had the ball, the game becomes sudden death, and the next score wins.
The 10-minute limit
The regular-season period is strictly 10 minutes. If the first team uses the entire period on its first drive and scores, the game ends without the other team getting the ball. If the score is level when time expires, the game finishes as a tie.
How playoff overtime works
In the playoffs, both teams are also guaranteed a possession, but there is no 10-minute limit. Overtime begins as a new 15-minute period, and the game continues until there is a winner.
A short history of the rule
In 2010, the NFL changed overtime so that a team could not win a playoff game with a field goal on the first possession. That became the rule for the regular season in 2012. Overtime was shortened from 15 to 10 minutes in 2017. The guaranteed possession rule was adopted for the playoffs in 2022 and for the regular season in 2025.
Special situations
A safety ends the game unless it happens on a one- or two-point conversion attempt. A team cannot attempt an onside kick in overtime. Each team has two timeouts.
Why the coin toss matters less
With both teams guaranteed a possession, winning the toss is less decisive than before, although the 10-minute clock gives the first team a strategy to consider in the regular season.
How to follow an overtime game
Watch the game clock as closely as the score. If the first team scores, the other side gets a chance to answer, and any change of possession after that turns the game into sudden death. In the regular season, a tie is still possible if neither side wins within 10 minutes.
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