Around this time last year, the NFL’s much-maligned overtime rules came under increased scrutiny following a wild, back-and-forth playoff game between the Chiefs and Bills. After K.C. won the overtime coin toss, Patrick Mahomes marched downfield and found Travis Kelce for an 8-yard touchdown pass to send Kansas City to the AFC Championship, while Josh Allen and Buffalo’s offense never got a chance to touch the ball in the extra period.

Two months later, the league approved a modified overtime rule that ensures both teams get at least one possession in any playoff game that is tied after four quarters. The latest tweak could have an impact for the first time during the 2023 postseason.

Below, we’ve got you covered on what you need to know about playoff overtime rules.

Are there ties in the NFL playoffs?

No. Unlike the regular season, postseason games cannot end in a tie.

You’re probably familiar with regular-season overtime rules: They consist of a single 10-minute period, where each team gets an opportunity to possess the ball unless the team that gets the ball first scores a touchdown on its opening drive or kickoff return.

If the score remains tied after each team has had its opportunity to possess, sudden-death play — where the game ends on any score (safety, field goal or touchdown) — continues until a winner is determined. If it’s still tied after 10 minutes, the game ends in a tie.

How does overtime work for the NFL playoffs?

Many of the same regular-season overtime rules apply in the playoffs, with a few key differences.

First, overtime periods in the postseason are 15 minutes long, and play will continue until there is a winner.

Additionally, and most notably, the new guaranteed possession rule will take effect for the first time this postseason. Each team will get the opportunity to possess the ball at least once, even if the team that has the first possession scores a touchdown. There is one small caveat here though, which is also true in the regular season: If the team kicking off to start the overtime period scores a safety on the receiving team’s initial possession, the game is over.

It’s a welcome change for many who argue the OT coin toss gives the team that wins the toss an unfair advantage. And the statistics appear to back that up, at least in the postseason. Since 2010, teams that won the coin toss in overtime playoff games are 10-2, with seven of those 10 winners scoring a sudden-death touchdown on their opening drive.

“We always listen to the fans — that’s an important thing,” NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said of the rule change last March. “We’re always looking to improve, and I think what really drove the decision was the database, ultimately, and looking at the facts and what’s happened.

“Where we saw that most having an influence, I think, was 12 games in the postseason that have been in overtime, seven of which were won on the first possession. When you see that, that’s the type of thing that I think our coaches and everyone looked at — this is an issue in the postseason we should deal with.”

Here are some other details to remember about overtime in the playoffs from the NFL rulebook:

• There are no coaches’ challenges in overtime. All replay reviews will be initiated by the replay official.
• Each team gets three timeouts during a half (two overtime periods), as opposed to two timeouts during overtime in the regular season.
• The intermission between the end of regular time and the first overtime period is no more than three minutes.
• There’s a two-minute intermission between each overtime period, but no halftime intermission after the second.
• At the beginning of the third overtime period, the captain who lost the first overtime coin toss will either choose to possess the ball or select which goal his team will defend, unless the team that won the coin toss deferred.
• If there’s still no winner at the end of a fourth overtime period, there will be another coin toss.

What other changes have been made to overtime rules?

This offseason’s modification is the latest in a number of changes to the NFL’s overtime rules in recent years.

During the 2010 postseason, the league installed the modified sudden-death overtime system which no longer allowed a team to win with a field goal on its opening drive. Two seasons later, the NFL expanded those rules to cover regular-season games. And in 2017, regular-season overtime was shortened from 15 to 10 minutes with the aim of improving player safety.

What’s the longest overtime game in NFL playoff history?

A divisional playoff matchup between the Dolphins and Chiefs on Christmas Day 1971 holds the record, ending in double overtime at 82 minutes and 40 seconds. Both teams failed to convert a field goal in the first overtime period before Miami’s Garo Yepremian redeemed himself with a 37-yarder midway through the second overtime to clinch a 27-24 victory.

In fact, only six games in NFL playoff history have required multiple overtimes — the most recent being Baltimore’s Mile High Miracle win over the Broncos in the 2012 AFC Divisional playoff game.

(Photo: Isaiah J. Downing / USA Today)