How OT Rules Differ in the NFL Regular Season and Postseason

Aside from getting to watch some free football, victory is still in the cards for both teams. However, the rules for this extra play differ slightly depending on whether the game occurs during the 18-week regular season or in the postseason.

When a game is tied at the end of regulation in the NFL, it goes to overtime. The rules for overtime differ slightly depending on whether the game is being played during the regular season or the postseason.

During the regular season, each team gets one possession to start overtime. The team that wins the coin toss can choose to receive the ball first, defer to the second half, or choose which goal they want to defend. If the team that receives the ball first scores a touchdown, the game ends immediately and the other team does not get a chance to play offense. If the first team to play offense kicks a field goal, punts, or turns the ball over, the opposing team will have a chance to possess the ball. If the score remains tied after each team has possessed the ball, overtime continues in sudden-death play until one team scores by any method (touchdown, field goal, or safety) and the game ends.

There is one other instance in which the game ends on the first possession and no touchdown is scored. If the team kicking off to start the overtime period scores a safety on the receiving team’s initial possession, the team that kicked off is the winner.

Each team gets two timeouts during this period of extra play. If a team ends regulation with unused timeouts, those are scrapped once the fourth quarter ends. Coaches do not have instant replay challenges during overtime. All reviews are initiated by the replay official.

If the score is still equal at the end of the 10-minute overtime period, the game will be recorded as a tie in each team’s records. The 2023 season was the first since 2017 with no tied games.

During the postseason, each team is guaranteed to have at least one possession in overtime. The team that wins the coin toss can choose to receive the ball first, defer to the second half, or choose which goal they want to defend. If the team that kicks off to start the overtime period scores a safety on its opponents’ initial possession, the game ends immediately with a win for the team that kicked off.

After each team has played on offense, the side with the most points wins. If the score is still tied, the next team to score by any method wins. If the score remains even at the end of the 15 minutes — or if the second team has not completed its initial offensive drive by this point — the teams play another overtime period. Play continues until a winner is determined.

If more than one overtime period is necessary, there is a two-minute intermission between each overtime period.

At the beginning of the third overtime period, the captain who lost the initial OT coin toss gets to choose to play offense or pick which end zone his team will defend, unless the team that won the coin toss deferred that choice.

If the game remains tied at the end of a fourth OT, there will be another coin toss, and the teams will keep playing until one team has outscored its opponent.

Each team gets three timeouts during a half (two overtime periods), as opposed to two timeouts during OT in the regular season.

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