The evolution of the overtime rule in the NFL is as follows:
- 1941 — Sudden-death rule was added for divisional playoff games (at the time, these were one-game playoffs to break a division tie to advance to the NFL title game)
- 1946 — Sudden-death was extended to the championship game to avoid co-champions (first put into effect 11 years later)
- 1974 — A single sudden-death period was added for regular season and preseason games.
- 2010 — A “modified sudden death” that extended the overtime past a first-possession field goal.
- 2012 — Modified sudden death implemented for regular season and preseason games, except that no more than one period would be played.
- 2017 — Overtime in regular season and preseason games was reduced to 10 minutes.
- 2021 — Eliminate overtime in the preseason
- 2022 — Both teams guaranteed possession in the postseason only, except if the first possession ends in a safety.
There were also special provisions for certain exhibition games to have a sudden-death overtime before 1974, and the first NFL overtime game actually was in the 1955 preseason, three years before “The Greatest Game Ever Played.”
Under the modified sudden-death system, the overtime period is extended if there is a field goal on the first possession. (In a postseason game, it will be extended for a first-possession touchdown as well.) In that case, the scoring team kicks off to the opponent for a chance to equalize or beat the score. If the second team ties the game without losing possession, then on the ensuing kickoff, the tie will be broken by the next score, regardless.
There is only one 10-minute overtime period in the regular season; the game will end in a tie if neither team is ahead. Postseason overtime will continue until a winner is decided, but each overtime period would be 15 minutes.
The first possession is actually defined as “the opportunity to possess,” so if the receiving team does not get possession of the opening kickoff in overtime (muffed catch, successful onside kick), it has lost the opportunity to possess. Also, if there is a double change of possession on the same play (offense recovers the ball after a change), the second team has had its opportunity to possess. A double change of possession will end the game if the second team is driving.
Overtime games that continued beyond the first score
These are overtime games that continued past the first-possession score. There have not been any postseason overtime games that utilized this rule, and the guaranteed possession rule for the postseason takes effect in 2022.
Extra plays are the number of plays after the first FG in overtime. It includes kickoffs and all scrimmage plays except for snap-killing fouls. Altered result compares what the conventional sudden-death result would have been to the actual result; a dash indicates that there was no change. To borrow baseball terminology, a SAVE is indicated when the score was re-tied in overtime and the first-scoring team won the game, which has happened twice.
1st scoring team won |
1st scoring team lost |
Game finished tied |
21 |
11 |
4 |
| Date | Final score | 1st poss | 2nd & additional poss | Extra plays | Altered result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9/9/2012 | MIN 26–JAX 23 | MIN FG | JAX downs | 5 | — |
| 9/23/2012 | TEN 44–DET 41 | TEN FG | DET downs1Replay of final play upheld | 10 | — |
| 10/21/2012 | NE 29–NYJ 26 | NE FG | NYJ fumble1Replay of final play upheld | 8 | — |
| 11/18/2012 | HOU 43–JAX 37 | HOU FG | JAX FG HOU TD |
10 | HOU SAVE (12 total pts2Highest number of points that can be scored in regular-season overtime in OT) |
| 11/24/2013 | MIN 26–GB 26 | GB FG | MIN FG GB, MIN, GB punts |
34 | GB win→TIE |
| 12/29/2013 | SD 27–KC 24 | SD FG | KC downs | 7 | — |
| 10/12/2014 | CAR 37–CIN 37 | CIN FG | CAR FG CIN missed FG (:00) |
24 | CIN win→TIE3Highest scoring tie game in NFL history |
| 10/27/2014 | WAS 20–DAL 17 | WAS FG | DAL downs | 5 | — |
| 9/13/2015 | STL 34–SEA 31 | STL FG | SEA downs | 8 | — |
| 11/1/2015 | TB 23–ATL 20 | TB FG | ATL downs | 6 | — |
| 11/2/2015 | CAR 29–IND 26 | IND FG | CAR FG IND int CAR FG |
17 | IND win→loss CAR 6-1→7-0, part of 18-win streak, 14 consecutive wins in season4No impact on seeds, as CAR clinched #1 seed by 2 games |
| 12/6/2015 | NYJ 23–NYG 20 | NYJ FG | NYG missed FG | 9 | — |
| 12/24/2015 | OAK 23–SD 20 | OAK FG | SD downs | 5 | — |
| 12/28/2015 | DEN 20–CIN 17 | DEN FG | CIN fumble | 3 | — |
| 10/23/2016 | SEA 6–AZ 6 | AZ FG | SEA FG AZ missed FG SEA missed FG (:07) |
28 | AZ win→TIE5Lowest scoring tie game since 11/5/72 (PHI-STLCards, 6-6) and the lowest regulation tie score (3-3) since 11/7/40 (NYG-DET, 0-0). SEA #4 seed→#3 seed (head-to-head loss to GB) |
| 11/27/2016 | KC 30–DEN 27 | DEN FG | KC FG DEN missed FG KC FG |
26 | DEN win→loss KC #5 seed→#2 seed OAK #2 & first-round bye→#5 seed |
| 1/1/2017 | PIT 27–CLE 24 | CLE FG | PIT TD | 10 | CLE win→loss |
| 10/1/2017 | AZ 18–SF 15 | SF FG | AZ TD6First extended possession since the implementation of the 10-minute overtime rule | 10 | SF win→loss |
| 9/30/2018 | TEN 26–PHI 23 | PHI FG | TEN TD7A defensive pass interference penalty continued the drive on a 4th down stop. Also TEN reconsidered a FG attempt on 4th down and converted | 19 | PHI win→loss |
| 9/30/2018 | HOU 37–IND 34 | IND FG | HOU FG IND downs (:24) HOU FG (:00) |
23 | IND win→loss HOU #5 seed→#3 seed IND #3 seed→#5 seed WC home field IND→HOU |
| 12/2/2018 | NYG 30–CHI 27 | NYG FG | CHI downs (3 fumbles recovered on drive) | 9 | — |
| 12/9/2018 | KC 27–BAL 24 | KC FG | BAL downs | 11 | BAL QB Lamar Jackson injured in extended OT |
| 9/8/2019 | AZ 27–DET 27 | AZ FG | DET FG AZ punt DET downs (:00) |
26 | AZ win→tie |
| 10/12/2020 | NO 30–LAC 27 | NO FG | LAC downs | 6 | LAC WR Mike Williams injured on final play of game |
| 12/17/2020 | LAC 30–LV 27 | LV FG | LAC TD | 7 | LV win→loss |
| 9/26/2021 | LV 31–MIA 28 | LV FG | MIA FG LV FG |
22 | LV SAVE MIA S Brandon Jones injured in extended OT |
| 10/3/2021 | NYJ 27–TEN 24 | NYJ FG | TEN missed FG (:15) | 15 | — |
| 12/12/2021 | SF 26–CIN 23 | CIN FG | SF TD8Replay of final play reversed to touchdown | 8 | CIN win→loss |
| 1/9/2022 | SF 27–LAR 24 | SF FG | LAR INT1Replay of final play upheld | 7 | SF clinches playoff berth with win |
| 1/9/2022 | LV 35–LAC 32 | LV FG | LAC FG LV FG (:00) |
19 | LV SAVE LV clinches playoff berth with win LAC eliminated from playoffs with loss PIT avoids playoff elimination with tie |
| 10/6/2022 | IND 12–DEN 9 | IND FG | DEN downs (4th & 1, IND 4) | 6 | — |
| 11/6/2022 | KC 20–TEN 17 | KC FG | TEN downs | 5 | — |
| 11/13/2022 | MIN 33–BUF 30 | MIN FG | BUF INT | 7 | — |
| 11/26/2023 | PHI 37–BUF 34 | BUF FG | PHI TD | 10 | BUF win→loss |
| 12/3/2023 | IND 31–TEN 28 | TEN FG | IND TD | 6 | TEN win→loss TEN CB Kristian Fulton injured in extended OT (placed on season-ending IR) |
| 2/11/2024 SB XLVIII |
KC 25–SF 22 | SF FG | KC TD (:03) | 14 | First postseason game to go into extended overtime SF Super Bowl win→Super Bowl loss |
Photo: Green Bay Packers