2025 NFL Overtime Rules: How does it work, rule changes for 2025 season explained

NFL overtime rules changed in 2025 to guarantee both teams a possession in the regular season, just as they are in overtime for the playoffs and Super Bowl. Here's a look at the NFL's overtime rules and procedures as updated for the 2025 season:

What are the NFL overtime rules for 2025 regular season?

NFL rules now grant both teams an opportunity to possess the ball, even if the first team scores a touchdown. In the regular season, that is subject to a 10-minute limit, so if the first team to possess the ball takes all 10 minutes off the clock with its first possession, the game ends without the other team getting a possession. The first possession can end with a winner only if the defense scores, either by a touchdown on a pick-six or fumble recovery, or a tackle or penalty in the end zone for a safety.

After each team has had an opportunity to possess the ball, if one team has more points, that team is the winner. If the score is tied after each team has had its opportunity to possess the ball, the team that scores next, by any method, is the winner.

Coaches cannot challenge any play in overtime. All replay reviews must be initiated by the replay official.

How does the overtime rule work in the playoffs?

In the postseason both teams are also guaranteed an opportunity to possess the ball, but there is no 10-minute limit. Instead, overtime in the playoffs is like a new game starting: A 15-minute quarter starts overtime, and if the score is tied or both teams have not concluded a possession when 15 minutes run out, the team with the ball will keep the ball into the second quarter of overtime.

If time runs out on the second quarter of overtime with the game still tied, there will be another kickoff, and the team that lost the coin toss will choose to kick, receive or defend a goal. However, there is not a full halftime intermission if the game remains tied after the second overtime (which has never happened in NFL history). The overtime halftime lasts only two minutes. In the extraordinarily unlikely event that a playoff game is still tied after four quarters of overtime, there will be another coin toss and play will continue like it's a new game.

What are the other differences between regular-season overtime and playoff overtime?

In regular-season overtime, each team gets two timeouts for the 10-minute period. In the playoffs, each team gets three timeouts per half, just as in a regular game.

In the playoffs, game will continue to be played until there's a winner, no matter how long it takes. In the regular season, the game ends in a tie if the score is tied after 10 minutes.

When was the last time an NFL game ended in a tie?

The Packers and Cowboys tied 40-40 in Week Four of the 2025 regular season.

What are the strategies in overtime?

Under the old sudden-death overtime rule, winning the coin toss almost always meant choosing to receive the overtime kickoff, which was a big advantage when one score won the game. Now that both teams are guaranteed a possession, there are debates about whether it's smarter to kick off or receive at the start of overtime. NFL coaches are about evenly split on whether they prefer to kick or receive when they win the overtime kickoff, which shows the rule is working as intended: Winning a coin flip is no longer a big advantage either way.

History of NFL overtime rule changes

NFL overtime was initially referred to as "sudden death overtime" because the first score ended the game. The first NFL overtime game was the 1958 NFL Championship Game, in which the Baltimore Colts beat the New York Giants 23-17 on Alan Ameche's touchdown run on third-and-goal from the 1-yard line. This game is often referred to as "the Greatest Game Ever Played."

Overtime was only for the playoffs until 1974, when the NFL instituted sudden-death overtime for the regular season.

In 2010, the NFL modified overtime so that a team could not win a playoff game with a field goal on the first possession. In 2012, that became the rule for the regular season as well.

In 2017, regular-season overtime was cut from 15 minutes to 10 minutes.

In 2022, the NFL instituted the current rule that guaranteed both teams a possession even if the first team scored a touchdown, and in 2025 that became the rule for the regular season as well.