Correct me if I'm wrong. I've been following the NFL since 1985 and I never knew this until today.
Ive just noticed a change in the NFL overtime rules, if I sound a bit ignorant then please forgive me as I didn't know, I always assumed NFL regular season games that go into overtime were sudden death, first team to score wins.
If I can get my head around this, perhaps someone can enlighten me.
The 'new' NFL overtime rules are:
Each team gets 1 possession each unless a touchdown is scored on the first possession in overtime.
First possession in overtime is decided by a coin toss which I thought was always the case anyway.
Overtime is limited to 15 minutes, if the scores are equal at the end of that then the game is declared a tie.
I would assume in that 15-minute period both sides score a field goal each in their first possessions, then the first team to score points wins the game before the 15 minutes is up.
My other question is this. This change happened some time ago. I assumed it was 2010 if I read the NFL rulebook right?