What Were The Old NFL Overtime Rules?

If you’re a football fan, you’ve probably wondered about the NFL’s overtime rules. Here’s a quick history of the league’s overtime rules, from the very first game all the way to today.

Introduction

The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league consisting of 32 teams, divided equally between the National Football Conference (NFC) and the American Football Conference (AFC). The NFL is one of the four major professional sports leagues in North America, and the highest professional level of American football in the world.

What were the old NFL overtime rules?

Before the NFL changed their overtime rules in 2012, the overtime period was fifteen minutes long and it was played in a sudden death format. This meant that the first team to score in overtime would automatically win the game, regardless of how many points they scored.

The sudden death format

From 1974 until 2011, if the score was tied at the end of regulation play in an NFL game, the teams would play an extra quarter ( fifteen minutes in regular season games, and ten minutes in preseason and postseason games). This extra quarter was called overtime. If the score was still tied after overtime, the game would end in a tie.

In 2012, the NFL implemented a new set of overtime rules. Under these rules, if the score is tied at the end of regulation play, each team is guaranteed to have one possession. If the score is still tied after each team has had one possession, then the game will proceed to sudden death format, where the first team to score wins.

The coin toss

In the old NFL overtime rules, the coin toss was used to decide which team would get the ball first. The team that won the coin toss could either choose to receive the ball or defer to the other team. The other team would then get the ball on offense first. If the score was still tied after both teams had a chance on offense, then the game would go into sudden death mode. This means that the next score would win the game, regardless of what happened afterwards.

The field goal

In the old NFL overtime rules, if the score was tied at the end of regulation, the game would go into overtime. In overtime, each team would get a chance to score, and the first team to score would win the game.

If, after each team had a chance to score, the score was still tied, then the game would go into sudden death. In sudden death, the first team to score would win the game. This could happen on any play – a touchdown, field goal, or even a safety.

The sudden death rules were changed in 2010, in part because of a controversial playoff game between the New Orleans Saints and Minnesota Vikings. In that game, Vikings kicker Brett Favre threw an interception on Minnesota’s first drive of OT, and Saints quarterback Drew Brees then threw a touchdown pass to win the game. Under the old rules, Favre never would have had a chance to redeem himself – he would have just lost the game for his team.

Now, in sudden death OT in the NFL, each team gets at least one chance to possess the ball (unless the team that gets possession first scores a touchdown). If both teams have had a chance to score and the score is still tied after that point, then it truly becomes sudden death – whoever scores next wins regardless of how they do it.

How did the old overtime rules affect the game?

Before the 2017 season, the NFL had a very different overtime system which was in place for almost a decade. This system had a large impact on how the game was played, and it was often criticized. Let’s take a look at how the old overtime rules affected the game.

The importance of the coin toss

In 1974, the NFL introduced sudden death overtime. Before that, games could end in a tie if both teams were tied at the end of regulation time. Sudden death means that the first team to score in overtime wins the game, regardless of how long it takes or what happens afterwards.

The new rule led to an increase in the importance of the coin toss. The team that won the coin toss had a significant advantage, because they could choose to receive or defer the ball. If they chose to receive, they could score a touchdown on their first drive and end the game. If they deferred, they would get the ball at the start of overtime and could then run out the clock if they didn’t score.

The new overtime rules had a huge impact on how teams played the game. Teams that won the coin toss would often choose to receive, because they had a good chance of scoring a touchdown and winning the game. However, if they didn’t score, their opponents would get the ball with a chance to win it. This led to some very exciting finishes, but it also led to criticism that teams were not playing “to win” but rather “not to lose”.

In 2010, the NFL changed its overtime rules again. Now, both teams must have an opportunity to possess or attempt to score before sudden death occurs. If one team scores a field goal on its first drive, then their opponents will get a chance to either tie it with a field goal or win it with a touchdown on their second drive. If neither team scores on their first drives, then sudden death will occur and whichever team scores first will win. This change was made in order to make sure that both teams had an opportunity to score and so that there would be more exciting finishes.

The impact of the field goal

In the old NFL overtime rules, the team that scored first won the game, regardless of whether the other team had a chance to score. This often led to strategies focused on getting into field goal range as quickly as possible, rather than trying to score a touchdown. While this could lead to some exciting finishes, it also meant that games could be decided by a single lucky play, or even a single lucky bounce.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the old NFL overtime rules were very confusing and unfair. They gave an advantage to the team that won the coin toss, and many games were decided by a field goal on the first drive of overtime. The new rules are much fairer, and hopefully will result in more exciting games.