NFL Keeps 10 Minute Overtime Rules for 2026 Season

The NFL will continue using its 10-minute overtime format during the 2026 season, with both teams generally receiving an opportunity to possess the ball. The rules apply to regular-season games and follow the format used in 2025, while a coin toss determines which team chooses to receive the ball first. According to the league's established overtime rules, each team receives two timeouts during the extra period, and all replay reviews are initiated by the booth.

The format also allows games to end in a tie if neither team establishes a lead before the 10-minute period expires. Both teams must have an opportunity to possess the ball, except when the kicking team scores a safety during the receiving team's first possession. After each team has possessed the ball, the team with more points wins.

If the score remains tied after those possessions, the next team to score wins.

The overtime format mirrors the rules used during the 2025 season and the NFL postseason since 2022. The provisions became relevant again during a high-scoring Monday Night Football matchup between the Los Angeles Rams and Buffalo Bills.

The Rams and Bills combined for 41 points in the second half, according to the source report. Harrison Mevis converted the game-tying extra point after a late-fourth-quarter drive led by Matthew Stafford, sending the contest into overtime. The teams produced six consecutive touchdown drives to close regulation, turning a game that had initially featured limited scoring into a contest requiring extra time. The matchup had been billed as a potential preview of Super Bowl 61.

Ties remain possible under the regular-season format. Only one game ended in a tie during the 2025 NFL season, when the Green Bay Packers and Dallas Cowboys finished 40-40 in Week 4 on Sunday Night Football. The 2026 season has also already featured a tie. The Washington Commanders and New York Giants finished level in Week 5 after Washington failed to stop the clock as time expired while the team was within field-goal range, according to the source report.