A team can answer an opening-drive touchdown in NFL overtime in 2026. During the regular season, though, the opponent’s chance to answer comes with a clock that won’t reset. There’s only one 10-minute overtime period.
That limit applies even if the second team hasn’t had an opportunity to possess the ball or hasn’t finished its first possession. If the score is tied when the period ends, the game is a tie. If one team leads, that team wins. Rule 16, Article 3 of the official 2026 NFL rulebook puts the possession rule and the time limit together.
The second chance doesn’t create extra time
Both teams getting an opportunity to possess the ball doesn’t mean both offenses receive a complete drive regardless of time. The second team uses whatever remains in the period. It doesn’t get a fresh 10 minutes after the first team scores.
A long opening possession can therefore leave the opponent very little time to respond. If the first team scores and the second team is still trailing when the period ends, an unfinished drive doesn’t extend regular-season overtime. If neither team has scored, the same time limit can end the game tied without a completed second possession.
The clock reaching zero doesn’t cut off a live play. The play finishes, and ordinary rules for extending a period still apply. Those rules can require an untimed down or a try after a touchdown. An unfinished possession alone doesn’t qualify for extra time.
The NFL adopted the broader possession opportunity for the regular season in 2025, subject to the 10-minute limit. The league’s 2025 rule-change explanation dates that change. It isn’t a new rule introduced for 2026.
What happens after the opening possession?
These are the ordinary scoring paths, assuming time remains and no penalty changes the result:
- The first team scores a touchdown: The opponent still gets its opportunity to answer. Its response must overcome or match the actual deficit, including any points from the first team’s try.
- The first team kicks a field goal: The opponent can win with a touchdown or tie the score with a field goal. If it finishes its opportunity without scoring, the first team wins.
- The first team doesn’t score: The next score by either team wins. The second team can end the game with a field goal.
- The teams remain tied after both opportunities: The next score by any method wins, provided the regular-season period hasn’t ended.
There’s an explicit safety exception. If the team that kicked off to begin overtime scores a safety on the receiving team’s initial possession, the kicking team wins immediately. It doesn’t need an offensive possession first.
A matching touchdown can leave the try to decide it
Suppose the first team scores a touchdown and makes the extra point. The second team then scores a touchdown. A successful extra-point kick ties the score. A successful two-point conversion wins. An unsuccessful try that leaves the second team behind ends the game.
If the first team missed its extra point, the second team’s touchdown instead ties the score before the try. Two touchdowns alone don’t establish that the teams are level.
A try doesn’t use game-clock time. The scoring and period-extension provisions determine whether it must be played after a touchdown as time expires.
Possession isn’t the same as an offensive drive
Rule 16 also defines how a team can satisfy its opportunity without running its offense. The defense gains possession by catching, intercepting or recovering a loose ball. An interception can therefore count even if the intercepting team’s offense never takes the field.
Kicks have a separate opportunity rule. A kickoff gives the receiving team its opportunity. If the kicking team legally recovers that kick, the receiving team is considered to have had its chance. A muffed punt or field-goal attempt that crosses the line of scrimmage can also count as the receiving team’s opportunity under Article 5.
Turnovers require another qualification. If the first team scored and the second team then throws an interception or loses a fumble, officials let the down finish. Points scored during that down can count. Article 5 also covers fouls that prevent the second team’s possession from legally ending. The ball changing hands isn’t always the instant the game becomes final.
Why a regular-season game can still finish tied
Teams can trade field goals, fail to score or match touchdown-and-try totals, then run out of time without a deciding score.
The Giants and Commanders finished tied 27-27 on Oct. 11, 2026. Both teams possessed the ball in overtime. Washington’s final possession ended when time expired before it could attempt a field goal, according to the Giants’ report published Oct. 12.
Playoff overtime continues
Postseason overtime starts with a 15-minute period. The opening-possession scoring rules and the safety exception still apply, but the regular-season limit doesn’t.
Under Rule 16, Article 4, another period begins if the score is tied at the end of a period or the second team’s initial possession hasn’t ended. Play continues through as many 15-minute periods as needed to produce a winner. A team still answering the opening score can continue into the next period.
For a wager, the NFL’s final score is only part of the question. The ticket’s market and the sportsbook’s applicable rules determine settlement. This guide establishes the football result, without assigning a universal refund or overtime-inclusion rule to moneylines, regulation-only markets or props.
