What Percentage of NFL Games Go to Overtime?

American football fans love nothing more than watching their favorite team score a last-minute touchdown to win the game. But what percentage of NFL games actually go into overtime?

Introduction

In the National Football League (NFL), overtime is a method of extending the game to resolve a tie between two teams. A game that goes into overtime is extended by an extra period of play, during which each team must have the opportunity to score. If both teams score during the extra period, the game continues until one team has more points than the other, or until both teams have had the same number of scoring opportunities (i.e., each team has had possession of the ball and had a chance to score).

The rules for overtime were first introduced in 1974, and have been amended several times since then. Currently, if the score is tied at the end of regulation time, each team is given one possession to score from their own twenty-five yard line. If neither team scores, or if both teams score touchdowns on their first possessions, the game enters a sudden death format; whoever scores next wins.

In 2017, there were 17 games that went into overtime, representing 5.6% of all NFL games played that season. Of those 17 games, 7 were decided on the first possession (41.2%), 6 were decided on the second possession (35.3%), 3 were decided on the third possession (17.6%), and 1 was decided on the fourth possession (5.9%).

Data

2017-2018 NFL Season

Of the 256 regular season games played in the 2017-2018 NFL season, 10% ended in a tie and thus required overtime to determine a winner. This compares to a 9% overtime rate in the 2016-2017 season, and is the highest rate of overtime games since the 2012-2013 season (when the NFL instituted new rules to encourage more scoring and thus reduce the likelihood of tied games).

2016-2017 NFL Season

In the 2016-2017 NFL season, there were a total of 256 games played. Of those games, 19 went into overtime (7.4%).

Analysis

Since the NFL adopted the current overtime rules in 2012, 84 games have gone into overtime, which is about 8.4 percent of the 1,001 regular-season games played during that span, including playoffs. That’s below the 9.6 percent of games that went to overtime from 2010 to ’11, but the new rules have resulted in more games going to overtime than in any other season since the NFL adopted overtime in 1974.

2017-2018 NFL Season

In 2017, the NFL saw a total of seven games go to overtime. This number is down from 2016, when the league saw a total of eleven games go to extra time. However, it is worth noting that the 2017 season was the first time in NFL history that not a single game went to overtime during the regular season.

So, what percentage of NFL games go to overtime? Well, over the past five seasons, an average of 4.4% of games have gone to extra time. This means that, on average, only about one in every twenty-two games will need more than sixty minutes of playing time to determine a winner.

2017 was an unusually slow year for overtime games, but it’s still well within the realm of possibility that any given game could go to extra time. So, if you’re a fan of close finishes and tense moments, keep your fingers crossed that your team’s next game goes into overtime!

2016-2017 NFL Season

The 2016-2017 NFL season saw an increase in the number of games going to overtime, with a total of 21 games being decided in extra time. This is the highest number of OT games since the 2012-2013 season, when there were also 21 games decided in OT.

So what percentage of NFL games go to overtime? In the 2016-2017 season, 21 out of 256 regular season games (8.2%) went to overtime. This is slightly higher than the average over the past 10 seasons, which is 7.4%.

Interestingly, there has been a trend towards more OT games in recent years. Over the past 10 seasons, an average of 7.4% of NFL regular season games have gone to OT. But if we look at just the past 5 years, that number jumps to 8.6%.

So why are we seeing more OT games in the NFL? There are a few possible explanations:

-The rules have changed to encourage more scoring. In 2012, the NFL changed the overtime rules so that both teams would get at least one possession (unless the team that received the kickoff scored a touchdown on their first drive). Before that, it was possible for a team to win in OT without their opponent ever touching the ball.

-The level of competition has increased. With more teams being competitive and less talent gap between teams, it’s not surprising that we’re seeing more close games that need extra time to be decided.

-With more parity in the league overall, there are simply more “good” teams and fewer “bad” teams. And good teams tend to win more close games than bad teams do.

Conclusion

After looking at the data, we can see that about 4% of NFL games go to overtime. So, if you’re a fan of close games or want to see some extra football, your best bet is to tune into an overtime game!