NFL changes overtime playoff rules to allow one possession for each team 

PALM BEACH, Fla. — NFL owners voted Tuesday to amend overtime playoff rules to allow one possession for each team to address a growing disparity favoring teams that won the coin toss.

Falcons president and competition committee chairman Rich McKay wouldn’t divulge the vote but said, “We got way above 24, and I’m jacked.”

Any rule change requires a minimum of 24 of the NFL’s 32 owners.

McKay and fellow competition committee member John Mara of the Giants had expressed a desire to see the rule change but acknowledged in recent days that they were skeptical a measure would pass. However, once the discussions progressed when owners met earlier on Tuesday, it became apparent a change was coming.

The rule comes just months after a 42-36 overtime win by Kansas City over the Bills in an AFC divisional playoff game in Kansas City. After a thrilling fourth quarter ended in a 36-36 tie, quarterback Patrick Mahomes led a touchdown drive on the first possession of overtime to win the game. The result ignited a fierce debate about whether each team ought to have at least one possession in overtime, since it has become increasingly easy to score touchdowns.

Until this rule change, if the team that had the ball first scored a touchdown, it would be declared the winner. If that team kicked a field goal on its first possession, the other team would get a possession. That rule will remain in force for the regular season, but not the playoffs. If the score is still tied after each team has had one possession, the team that scores next wins. 

“There is a clear issue that we can say in overtime, since we made the change in 2010, that the problem comes in the postseason,” McKay said. He cited the fact that teams winning the coin toss in the 12 overtime games since 2010 had won 10 games, with seven coming on a first-possession touchdown. A week after Kansas City beat Buffalo, the Bengals beat Kansas City in overtime after Cincinnati forced a Mahomes interception on his first drive.

“Those 12 [overtime] games are the most important those franchises have played,” McKay said. “It’s not a sample size of 25-30 games, but each one of those ends somebody’s season. That data was compelling to us.”

McKay said more owners warmed to the idea of a change when a proposal submitted by the Colts and Eagles, which originally suggested regular season and postseason overtime games should be amended, was changed to playoffs only.

Owners also made permanent a change to onside kickoffs. Last year, they introduced a measure to allow nine players in the “setup zone” for the receiving team on onside kicks to help increase successful recoveries. After recoveries went from less than 8% in 2020 to more than 13% in 2021, the rule was adopted on a permanent basis.

NFL senior vice president of operations Troy Vincent said the league will continue to emphasize taunting penalties. Vincent said a total of 61 taunting penalties were called last year, including four that were incorrectly flagged.

By Bob Glauber

Special to NewsdayBobGlauber

Bob Glauber retired in 2022 after covering the NFL for nearly 40 years. He was selected in 2021 for the Bill Nunn Career Achievement Award by the Pro Football Writers of America, and is a three-time winner of the New York State Sportswriter of the Year by the National Sports Media Association. President of the PFWA for the 2018-20 seasons, he is the author of “The Forgotten First” and “Guts and Genius.”