The concept of overtime was first introduced in 1940 by the National Football League as a tiebreaker. Later, in 1946, overtime was introduced for championship games. The teams who played the first match with overtime rules were Baltimore Colts and New York Giants in 1958.
NFL Overtime Rules
An overtime period of 15 minutes is given to the teams when the two teams in the NFL tie on the total at the end of four quarters. In 2017, the overtime rules were changed by the committee and the duration of one overtime period was reduced to 10 minutes from 15 minutes. The duration of intermission between two overtime periods will be 2 minutes.
How Is Overtime Decided in the NFL?
The referee would toss a coin and the team that wins the toss would possess the ball. It can also decide to pass on the ball to the other team. If the team that receives the ball fails to score in the first attempt, the game enters into a state called ‘sudden death’. After this, the first team that scores wins the match. Overtime is a nail-biting situation in any NFL game and we have clubbed 10 of the most edge-of-the-seat NFL games that were decided in the final 30 seconds of overtime.
In Overtime, the Referee Randomly Decides Which Team Will Possess the Ball First.
- A. True
- B. False
Greatest Overtime Games in NFL History
| Year | Teams | Overtime Victories in NFL |
| 2000 | New England Patriots (13) Vs Buffalo Bills (10) | New England Patriots |
| 2003 | New York Giants (31) Vs New York Jets (28) | New York Giants |
| 2005 | Tampa Bay Buccaneers (27) Vs Atlanta Falcons (24) | Tampa Bay Buccaneers |
| 2009 | Cincinnati Bengals (23) Vs Cleveland Browns (20) | Cincinnati Bengals |
| 2010 | Kansas City Chiefs (13) Vs Buffalo Bills (10) | Kansas City Chiefs |
| 2012 | LA Rams (16) Vs San Francisco 49ers (13) | LA Rams |
| 2016 | Kansas City Chiefs (30) Vs Denver Broncos (27) | Kansas City Chiefs |
| 2018 | Houston Texans (37) Vs Indianapolis Colts (34) | Houston Texans |
| 2019 | Miami Dolphins (38) Vs Cincinnati Bengals (35) | Miami Dolphins |
| 2020 | Arizona Cardinals (37) Vs Seahawks (34) | Arizona Cardinals |