Super Bowl Overtime History and New Rules for 2023 Explained

Football fans will tune in on Super Bowl Sunday expecting to see a winner crowned once the fourth quarter is over. However, sometimes 60 minutes of game action simply isn't enough, which sends the contest into overtime if the two teams are tied at the end of regulation.

With that in mind, here is the history of overtime in the Super Bowl and the new OT rules taking effect in 2023.

Has the Super Bowl Ever Gone Into Overtime?

Yes, the Super Bowl has gone into overtime before. However, it's a rare likelihood and FanDuel Sportsbook's Super Bowl odds show +1080 odds that this year's game will go to overtime and -2000 odds that it will not. It's only occurred once in 56 previous games, with SB LI between the New England Patriots and Atlanta Falcons being the first in history.

The Pats-Falcons Super Bowl will go down in infamy as the "28-3 Game." Atlanta blew a 28-3 lead during the second half as New England came storming back to tie things up 28 apiece at the end of the fourth quarter.

This sent the matchup into an extra overtime period to determine a winner. The Patriots received the opening kickoff and marched 75 yards down the field to score a touchdown, which ended the game immediately, giving New England the 34-28 win.

New Super Bowl Overtime Rules 2023

The NFL adopted new overtime rules entering this season that adjusted how this extra period works in the postseason. Now, instead of a touchdown ending the game immediately, both teams will get an opportunity to possess the ball (unless the team that kicks off at the start of OT records a safety, which would then make them the winner).

If the score is tied after both teams possess the ball, then overtime will become sudden death, with the next score of any kind winning the game.

The NFL has also upped each team's timeout allowance from two to three, but it only resets after two OT periods. That means a squad would have to wait until a third overtime frame to get three more timeouts if they burn through their first three.

The coin toss rules remain the same in OT. The road team, which is the Kansas City Chiefs this year, will get to call heads or tails. Whoever wins the toss gets to decide if they want to receive or defer. With these new guaranteed possession rules in place, teams may decide to defer and trust their defense to begin the period.

Isaiah De Los Santos is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Isaiah De Los Santos also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username zayyy05328. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in their articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.