How do NFL overtime possession rules differ between the regular season and postseason?

Both teams get an initial opportunity

Under the 2026 NFL rules, both teams must have an opportunity to possess the ball during overtime. The exception is specific: if the team kicking off to start overtime scores a safety on the receiving team’s initial possession, the kicking team wins.

The rule uses “opportunity,” not a promise that every team will complete a long drive. Rule 16-1-5 defines the opportunity through kicking plays: the kickoff is the receiving team’s opportunity, and a legal recovery of that kickoff by the kicking team still counts as an opportunity for the receiving team. If the first team does not score on its initial possession, the next score by either team wins; after both teams have had an opportunity, a team with more points wins, and if the score is tied the next score can decide it, subject to Rule 16-1-5’s additional scoring provisions.

Regular season: one 10-minute period

A regular-season game begins overtime after a brief intermission with one 10-minute period. The period has a hard cap: it does not extend just because the second team has not yet had an opportunity or its initial possession has not ended. If the score is tied when the 10 minutes expire, the game is a tie.

That means a regular-season overtime can end tied before the second team has touched the ball. When both initial opportunities have occurred, the rules determine the winner from the score and the next-score provisions; the one-period cap still applies.

Postseason: 15-minute periods continue

Postseason overtime starts with a 15-minute period. If the score is tied at its end, another period begins. A new period also begins if the second team’s initial possession has not ended. Play continues through as many 15-minute periods as needed until a winner is declared.

The shared initial-opportunity rule still applies in the postseason, including the opening-kick safety exception. After each team has had its opportunity, a team with more points is the winner; if the first team does not score on its initial possession or the score is tied after both opportunities, the next score by any method can decide the game, subject to Rule 16-1-5.

Edition and scope

This guide follows the 2026 Official Playing Rules of the National Football League. The Preface identifies them as the rules in effect for the 2026 NFL season and says the League may amend rules. The explanation is limited to these written overtime procedures and the fictional examples; it does not adjudicate a real game or answer how a sportsbook or market settles a wager.

Two fictional games reach overtime

Two fictional games are tied after regulation. In the regular-season game, one 10-minute overtime period ends with the score tied before Team B has had an opportunity to possess the ball. The period cannot be extended, so the game is a tie. In the postseason game, the first 15-minute period ends tied. Another overtime period begins; both teams still must receive an initial possession opportunity, subject to the exception if the team that kicked off scored a safety on the receiving team’s initial possession.

Related questions

Sources and further reading

• 2026 Official Playing Rules of the National Football League, Rule 16-1-1 and Rules 16-1-3 through 16-1-5, printed pages 65–66; Preface says this edition is in effect for the 2026 NFL season; checked October 15, 2026