NFL overtime rules: What to know for the 2026 season
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Billed as a potential Super Bowl 61 preview, the Los Angeles Rams and Buffalo Bills played mostly a snooze fest on "Monday Night Football."
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And then the third quarter started to wind down.
The teams combined for 41 points in the second half, with the 41st and final regulation point coming from Harrison Mevis's right foot. The kicker knocked through the game-tying extra point, sending the Rams and Bills to overtime after a remarkable late-fourth-quarter drive led by Matthew Stafford.
Six straight touchdown drives were put together to finish regulation. In other words, overtime is the proper way to settle this thriller on Monday night.
Here's a look at the overtime rules for 2026.
NFL overtime rules 2026
The NFL's overtime rules for 2026 will be familiar to NFL fans. They mirror the rules utilized during the 2025 campaign, which have also been the postseason overtime rules since 2022.
Overtime will be 10 minutes long. Each team will get two timeouts during the extra time and all reviews will be initiated by the booth.
Both teams will have a chance to possess the ball in overtime. The lone exception comes when the kicking team scores a safety during the receiving team's first possession.
A coin toss determines which team chooses to get the ball first.
After each team possesses the ball, the team with the most points wins. If it is still tied after one possession each, the next team to score wins.
If the score remains tied after 10 minutes, the game ends in a tie.
Just one game ended in a tie during the 2025 NFL season. That was a Week 4 "Sunday Night Football" clash between the Green Bay Packers and the Dallas Cowboys, which ended 40-40 as time expired.
The 2026 season has already seen a game end in a tie. The Commanders and Giants played to a draw in Week 5 after a bizarre sequence where Washington failed to stop the clock as time ran out with the team in field-goal range.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: NFL overtime rules: What to know for the 2026 season