Last February, NFL fans witnessed something they had never seen before.
The lead change on the final play of the Super Bowl.
reason? Super Bowl LVIII was the first playoff game under the league's new postseason overtime rules that will be implemented in the 2022-2023 season. As we'll review shortly, these changes guaranteed each team a chance to dominate the football in overtime. after that san francisco 49ers Patrick Mahomes kicked the field goal. kansas city chiefs He ran down the field on the final play of Super Bowl LVIII and scored the game-winning touchdown.
With the NFL playoffs just around the corner, we thought now was the perfect time to revisit the rules for postseason overtime.
Because you never know when you'll need to know them, and it pays to be prepared.
Why did the NFL change the playoff overtime rules?
AFC divisional round games are chiefs and buffalo bills The end of the 2021-2022 NFL season has fans excited with the back-and-forth developments. Josh Allen and the Bills scored the winning touchdown with 13 seconds left in regulation time, but that was still enough time for Mahomes to get Kansas City within field goal range and force overtime.
Despite a thrilling end to regulation, the overtime ending left many fans upset.
Kansas City won the coin toss, marched right down the field against a tired Bills defense, and scored a touchdown to advance to the AFC Championship Game. With overtime rules in place, all Allen and the Bills offense could do was watch.
In the weeks that followed, fans clamored for a different overtime format, and the NFL listened. League owners approved changes to the extra-time format, ensuring each team would have possession in extra time. The new format has been approved by the following authorities: 29-3 votes.
What are the rules for overtime in the NFL playoffs?
All playoff games that will go to overtime will be as follows: Revised rules:
- If the game is tied at the end of regulation, the referee will flip a coin to determine which team will have possession of the ball first in overtime. The visiting team's captain calls the toss.
- Both teams will have the opportunity to own the football. This is a big change. As we previously saw in the 2022 AFC Divisional Round game between Kansas City and Buffalo, if the team that started with the football scored a touchdown, the game was over. Under the new rules, in that scenario Buffalo would have an opportunity to match it with a touchdown of its own, and if it did, the game would continue. If both teams have possession of the ball, the game becomes sudden death. Additionally, if the team that started with possession scores and kicks an extra point to take a seven-point lead, the second team can win with a touchdown and two-point conversion.
- If the score is still tied at the end of overtime, or if the second team's first possession is still in progress, both teams will play another overtime period. Play continues regardless of how many overtimes are required before a winner is determined.
- There will be a two-minute break between each overtime period. There will be no halftime break after the second period.
- If the game is still tied after two extra innings, the second half will be played. The captain who loses the first coin toss of extra time chooses to either have possession of the ball or choose which goal his team will defend, unless the team winning the coin toss defers their choice.
- Each team gets three timeouts during the first half.
- The same timing rules that apply at the end of the second and fourth regulation periods also apply at the end of the second or fourth overtime period.
- If there is no winner after the fourth overtime, a third coin toss is held and play continues until a winner is declared.
- No instant replay coach challenges. All reviews are initiated by a replay representative.
What happened in overtime of Super Bowl V?
Last season's Super Bowl gave fans their first look at the new playoff overtime rule in action. Months of discussion about how the team would handle the situation were finally put to the test.
And many wondered if the 49ers were ready.
Despite many theories that a postponement would make more sense under the new rules, San Francisco won the coin toss and decided to receive the kickoff. Since both teams are guaranteed possession, knowing what they need to score to win the match gives them a competitive advantage. It's like a college team starting on defense in overtime and learning what they need to do on offense to win.
Instead, the 49ers went on offense but could only manage a field goal. This opened the door for the Chiefs to win the game with a touchdown and solid possession, and that's exactly what they did.
In his postgame speech, San Francisco head coach Kyle Shanahan said his team worked through different scenarios and thought starting on offense would give them an advantage if the game went to a third overtime possession and sudden death. said.
“None of us have a lot of experience with that,” Shanahan said. said. “We looked at all the analytics and talked to them and decided it was better to get the ball because if both teams were competing and scoring, we wanted to have a chance to go get the ball. ”
problem? The game did not reach the third overtime period.
What will you watch this season?
The conclusion of Super Bowl LVIII gave teams an example of the new overtime rule in action.
So given how the Super Bowl ended a year ago, teams might want to start on defense if this season's playoffs go into overtime.
Is there one scenario that hasn't been tested yet? The impact of two-point conversions. After Super Bowl V, Kansas City said it would try to win by going for two points at the end of a possession if necessary, rather than kicking an extra point and extending the game into a third overtime possession. suggested.
If overtime occurs in this year's playoffs, will the two-point conversion be valid?
I guess we'll have to wait until we find out.
