Overtime rules in the NFL will change in the 2025 regular season, following a decision by team owners at the Annual League Meeting in Palm Beach, Florida. The new rules guarantee each team a chance to possess the ball during overtime.
Proposed by the NFL’s Competition Committee, the changes are intended to “align the postseason and regular season overtime rules by granting both teams an opportunity to possess the ball regardless of the outcome of the first possession, subject to a 10-minute overtime period in the regular season.”
The last adjustment to the NFL’s regular season overtime rules came in 2017, reducing the length of the period from 15 minutes to 10 minutes. The latest change will affect the existing rules by ensuring each team gets a possession, even if the team with the first possession scores a touchdown.
The standard procedure at the end of regulation involves a coin toss to decide which team gets the ball first in overtime, called by the visiting team captain. No more than one 10-minute period will occur following a three-minute break. Each team is assured one possession, except if the first team scores a touchdown, continuing until a winner is declared through sudden death. Every team has two timeouts, and no point after is attempted if the game ends with a touchdown. Ties will be recorded if scores remain level at the period’s end. The replay official will initiate all reviews, excluding coach’s challenges.
The rule change aligns regular-season overtime rules with those of the postseason. Last season, the Atlanta Falcons experienced three overtime games, securing a win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and suffering defeats against the Washington Commanders and Carolina Panthers.
In Week 5, against Tampa Bay, Atlanta won the overtime coin toss and scored a decisive touchdown with a 45-yard pass from quarterback Kirk Cousins to wide receiver KhaDarel Hodge. In their games against Washington and Carolina, Atlanta lost the overtime coin toss, and their opponents scored decisive touchdowns on their opening possessions.
