Professional Football Researchers Association Forum

Let's see how well you know your NFL Overtime rules.

How many different, possible, point margins can you come up with, that could happen at the conclusion of an overtime NFL game?

2,3,5,6.

If the game involved the Lions, somehow they'd manage to lose in OT by 8 points.

Wouldn't 5 require that a safety not end the game?

If team A scored a field goal team B would get a possession to try to tie or beat that.
If team B had threw a "pick six" during that possession they could lose by 9.

So, theoretically, Richard's Lions could lose an OT game by nine points...

JameisLoseston wrote:Wouldn't 5 require that a safety not end the game?

In this scenario, Team A kicks a field goal on their first possession. Team B begins their first possession deep in their own territory and gives up a safety. Team A wins the game by 5.

And, of course, 0.
If no one scores in OT the game would end in a tie and the "margin" would be 0.

So, we have 0, 2, 3, 5, 6 and 9.
Are there any other possibilities?

Also, and just out of curiosity, what is the greatest margin of victory in an NFL OT game?

You have to add the possibility that the second possession ends with an offensive safety. Let's say there is a goal-to-go with the offense trailing by 3. The defense blocks the tying field goal attempt, and picks up the loose ball past the line of scrimmage, and retreats into the end zone where the defensive player is tackled. That is a safety, 2 points for the offense, and they lose the overtime period 3-2. This is the only scenario where a score ends the game and the scoring team loses.

There have been no defensive scores in a modified sudden-death (i.e., when there is a 3-0 differential in overtime). So, the highest margin of victory is still the same under standard sudden death, 6 points. But a team leading by 3 can have a 9-point win on a defensive touchdown. Initially, the rules made this more difficult, as they would not count any defensive scores for a team already in the lead, unless the change of possession occurred in the end zone. That has since been changed to allow the final play to run to its conclusion and all scores count.

So the possible overtime margins are only 0, 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, and 9. No overtime has ended with 1, 5, or 9, the only scores that cannot occur in standard sudden death.

What about 1? Suppose a team gets into OT and then something happens that causes a forfeit?

Would a 24-24 game become 25-24?

Forfeit would revert to a 2-0 score (NFL rule). College has 1-0 or the score at the point of abandonment if the forfeiting team is trailing.

The only thing that would be "something happens that causes forfeit" is one of the teams refuses to take the field, such as a protest. The referee is not permitted to declare a forfeit for any reason. Even the commissioner's hands are tied to very narrow criteria for declaring a forfeit.