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It is Saturday January 14 begin the NFL playoffs and they will end next Sunday, February 12, with Super Bowl LVII, although for this postseason there will be a peculiarity with a punctual change that will be in overtime in case the games are tied after 60 minutes.
Background to the rule change
In the last divisional round of the American Conference there was a game of “real madness” in the final minutes between Kansas City y Buffalowhere a combined 28 points were scored in the last 15 minutes and the game ended tied 36-36 with a fast-paced closing.
However, the Chiefs had the first possession and that was enough to win the game with an overtime touchdown that gave them the chance to play in the AFC Final, although they would ultimately lose to the Bengals; the Bills offense was resigned to watching defeat from the bench.
What happens if there is a tie in the NFL Playoffs?
It should be remembered that in Playoff overtime is 15 minutes and not 10, with the singularity that unlike the regular season, here a winner does have to be given and if after the first overtime it is not defined, there will be a second period.
With the new modification, if the first team scores a touchdown, the second team will have the opportunity to receive possession and tie the score by the same means, an issue that did not happen before. Although the game could still end with some pick-six, safety or that the second team to score a touchdown to tie the game decided not to make the extra point and went for the two-point conversion.
If the game is still tied after the touchdown with its respective extra point from each franchise, the match would be defined by “sudden death”, this means that the first to score will end up winning anyway.
This initiative was presented in the last low campaign by the Indianapolis Colts y Philadelphia Eagleswhich needed more than 75% approval and which in the end had 29 votes in favor and 3 against, so that from these Playoffs history could be made with two teams that score a touchdown in overtime.
