The new overtime rules of the NFL playoffs and Super Bowl explained

This weekend brings the beginning of the NFL playoffs with six Games from the Wild Card round.

The six victorious teams will progress to next week´s division round, with top-ranked Baltimore Ravens (AFC) and San Francisco 49ers (NFC) set to join the action.

Playoff competition is a different proposition to the regular season games and also features some rule changes. One of the key alterations made for the post-season is the overtime rules, with playoff games unable to end in a tie. Here’s how the overtime period works in the playoffs...

NFL playoffs overtime rules

In the post-season Games that end in a tie after the regulation time will proceed with a 15-minute period of overtime. If the scores are still level at the end of that time, another 15 minutes will be played, and so on until a winner is found.

Both teams will get at least one possession in each overtime period. If the scores are level after each team has possessed the ball the next score wins the game.

Coaches challenges are not permitted in overtime, meaning that replay reviews can only be initiated by the replay official. Each team gets three timeouts to use across each two overtime periods.

There is little time to rest with just three minutes allowed between the end of regular time and the beginning of the first overtime period. Once overtime was begun, there will be a two-minute intermission between each period.

Can playoff overtime go on forever?

In theory, yes! In the playoffs the fixture schedule ensures that each fixture must be decided on the night, meaning that teams continue in overtime until a winner is found.

Overtimes are relatively rare, with just 12 playoffs games since 2010 requiring overtime. Occassionally these games require multiple periods of overtime, the most recent coming in 2012 with Baltimore Raven´s AFC Divisional victory over Denver Broncos.

The longest ever playoff game came in 1971, when a Divisional playoff match between the Miami Dolphins and the Kansas City Chiefs lasted an astonishing 82 minutes and 40 seconds. The game was midway through the second period of overtime when Garo Yepremian scored a 37-yard field goal for the Dolphins.