The NFL Approves Overtime Rule Change For Playoffs

NFL owners have approved an overtime rule change by a 29-3 vote. The rule change only affects postseason games. The new rule will allow teams tied in overtime in the postseason if the score is tied following both teams having possed the ball. This new rule guarantees that both teams will possess the ball at least once in a sudden death match and throw out any possibility that a coin toss could cause the outcome of the game. If the team scores after receiving the ball, the team must kickoff to the opponent giving that team a chance to score. If the score is still tied following both teams’ possessing the ball, then the game will continue until the next team scores, winning the game.

The rule change likely is due to situations like last season’s Chiefs/ Bills playoffs, when the Bills allowed the Chiefs to go the length of the field and score on the first possession in overtime. This new rule will afford the other team a chance to tie or win the game. Sounds like a rule change that was much-needed.

💯 agree. Something needed to be changed, and amending the OT rule for only the playoffs is fair. Since 2012, the coin toss winner is 10-1 in OT in playoffs games. The one loss came in the 2018 Rams/Saints game on one of the worst missed calls of all time. https://t.co/SQmtM6Ngnq

— Danny Bennett (@RealDannyB) March 29, 2022