can you tie in the nfl

9 minutes ago 1
Nature

Yes, NFL games can end in a tie, but only in the regular season and only under specific overtime conditions.

When ties can happen

During the regular season, if the score is still even after four quarters plus a 10‑minute overtime period, the game ends as a tie and goes into the standings as such. Each team is guaranteed a possession in overtime (unless the first possession ends in a defensive score), and if neither team pulls ahead by the end of that 10‑minute extra period, no additional overtime is played in the regular season.

Playoffs versus regular season

In the postseason, games cannot end in a tie because a winner must advance, so additional overtime periods are played until one team is ahead at the end of a period (under the modified possession rules). In the standings, a tie counts as half a win and half a loss when calculating winning percentage for playoff qualification and tiebreakers.