National Football League

Colts propose major change to NFL overtime rules

Updated Feb. 28, 2022 1:30 a.m. ET

Are NFL overtime changes coming sooner than later?

All signs point to … maybe.

The Indianapolis Colts want to guarantee each team an overtime possession, per reports. If approved by the NFL Competition Committee, the new stipulations would apply to the regular season and the playoffs.

Current overtime rules stipulate that the team that wins the coin toss can win the game with a touchdown on the first possession, which has been a point of contention among football fans — especially last season.

Committee Chairman Rich McKay said that possible changes will undoubtedly be brought up when the committee meets this week, including the Colts' proposal.

At least three-fourths of the committee would need to be on board with OT changes — or 24 out of 32 committee votes. It is unclear at this time how much support there is within the league for the idea.

The Colts lost to Baltimore in Week 5 of the 2021 regular season in a game where the Ravens won the coin toss and scored a touchdown on the opening possession of overtime.

Elsewhere, Kansas City was involved in a nail-biter in the AFC divisional round against the Buffalo Bills where the Chiefs won the coin toss and came out on top because of it. Josh Allen & Co. never had another opportunity to possess the ball after the Chiefs' offense scored the game-ending touchdown.

"The rules are what they are, and I can't complain about that 'cause if it was the other way around, we'd be celebrating, too," Allen said after the loss.

The NFL adopted a 15-minute sudden-death OT period for regular-season games in 1974. The first change to this rule came in 2010, which made it so that only a touchdown on the first possession would end the extra period. The length was shortened to 10 minutes in 2017.

A game ends as a tie if neither team scores in overtime during the regular season, per the current rules.