hey fans welcome back to the channel today we're diving into the NFL's overtime rules a topic that always gets a lot of attention especially when games are on the line and tensions are high let's start with how overtime works during the regular season after regulation if the game is tied teams go into a 10-minute overtime period the overtime format is sudden death but with a Twist first there's a coin toss to decide which team gets the ball first the winner of the toss can choose to receive or defer to the other team now here's where it gets interesting if the team that gets the ball first scores a touchdown on their opening drive game over they win but if the first possession results in a field goal the game isn't over yet the opposing team gets a chance to answer if they score a touchdown they win if they also kick a field goal then the game continues now if both teams end up with field goals on their first possessions the game turns in a sudden death the next score whether it's a field goal touchdown or even a safety wins the game if neither team scores by the end of the 10-minute overtime period the game ends in a tie yep you heard that right ties can happen during the regular season all right now let's talk about the postseason the NFL doesn't allow ties in playoff games so so how does overtime work when everything's on the line in the playoffs overtime periods last 15 minutes instead of 10 but the core rules are the same first team to score a touchdown on their opening drive wins however if both teams kick field goals or neither scores on their first possession they keep playing until someone finally wins that could take multiple overtime periods if needed there are a few other details worth noting each team gets two timeouts during the overtime period And if there's a replay review it's handled just like in regulation one last thing the NFL has tweaked these rules over the years to try to balance players safety and fairness the current 10-minute overtime in the regular season for example was shortened from 15 minutes in 2017 to reduce the risk of injury in long drawn out games let me know in the comments what you think of the current rules should the NFL change anything if you enjoyed this video make sure to hit that like button and don't forget to subscribe for more football breakdowns and NFL content thanks for watching and I'll see you next time