How does overtime differ in the NFL postseason from the regular season? Do those rules change in Super Bowl LX?
Here are the overtime rules for the Super Bowl:
NFL postseason overtime rules
Each team gets a chance to possess the ball once in a 15-minute overtime period in the Super Bowl, barring a defensive score or safety on the opening possession; any defensive score would give the team previously on defense possession of the ball and the lead, making the next possession unnecessary.
If a team scores either a touchdown or field goal on the first possession of overtime and the other team doesn’t score on the ensuing possession, the game is over. After both teams have possessed the ball, the next score wins the game. If the game is tied after the initial 15-minute overtime period, another overtime period will begin and will do so until a winner is decided.
Both teams get two timeouts in the regular season and three in the postseason for an overtime period. All replay reviews in overtime are initiated by the replay official. Like at the end of the second and fourth quarter, there’s a two-minute warning in the second and fourth overtime periods in the postseason and a coin toss after the fourth overtime period to determine possession, should the game require it.
Overtime rules are the same in the Super Bowl as they are in the postseason as a whole. The difference from the regular season is that overtime is a 10-minute period in the regular season, and the game can end in a tie.
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NFL overtime history
Following the 2016 season, the NFL changed overtime from being a 15-minute period to a 10-minute period in the regular season, citing player safety (fewer minutes of play).
In 2022, following the Kansas City Chiefs beating the Buffalo Bills with a touchdown on the opening possession of overtime in the 2021 AFC divisional round, the NFL approved a rule that allows both teams to possess the ball regardless of whether a team scores a touchdown or field goal on the first possession of overtime in the postseason. This rule was only in place for the postseason.
Then, after the 2024 season, the NFL adopted postseason overtime rules for the regular season. Of course, the only difference is the game ends after the 10-minute overtime period in the regular season if the game is tied.
How many Super Bowls have gone to overtime?
Just two Super Bowls have required overtime in NFL history, those being the Chiefs beating the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl LVIII and the New England Patriots being the Atlanta Falcons in Super Bowl LI.
