It feels wrong. You sit through three and a half hours of bone-crushing hits, stressful third-down conversions, and a rollercoaster of emotions, only to see the clock hit zero with the score deadlocked. No winner. No loser. Just a weird, hollow feeling in your gut. NFL ties are the participation trophies of professional sports, and honestly, they’re one of the most polarizing things in the game today.
Since the league changed the overtime rules back in 1974 to actually allow for a sudden-death period, we've seen dozens of these stalemates. Some are boring slogs where neither kicker can hit the broad side of a barn. Others are absolute offensive explosions that simply ran out of time. But regardless of how they happen, a tie in the NFL carries a massive weight on the playoff picture that most fans don't realize until Week 18 rolls around. It’s a half-win and a half-loss. That sounds simple, but in a league where one game usually decides who goes to the Super Bowl and who goes to Cabo, that decimal point is everything.
The History of the Deadlock
The NFL didn't always have overtime. Before 1974, if the game was tied at the end of four quarters, everyone just went home. That was it. Between 1920 and 1973, there were 258 ties. Can you imagine that? You’d have seasons where teams finished 7-3-4. It was a mess. The league finally realized that fans were paying for a result, not a cliffhanger, so they brought in the 15-minute sudden-death overtime.
It worked, mostly. But then came the player safety concerns.
In 2017, the NFL owners decided to shorten the overtime period from 15 minutes to 10 minutes. They wanted to reduce the number of snaps players were taking in an extra period to curb injuries. The logic was sound from a medical perspective, but the mathematical reality was inevitable: more NFL ties. When you shave five minutes off the clock, you’re basically daring the teams to fail. If the first team to get the ball marches down and kicks a field goal—which takes about seven or eight minutes in a typical methodical drive—the second team is left with a tiny sliver of time to respond. If they also kick a field goal? The game is basically over.
Why the Current Rules Create Stalemates
Let's talk about the 2022 matchup between the New York Giants and the Washington Commanders. That game was a quintessential example of why ties happen in the modern era. Both teams were fighting for a Wild Card spot. Both teams played conservatively in the extra frame because they were terrified of losing.
That’s the secret sauce of a tie: Fear.
When a coach faces a 4th-and-2 at the opponent's 35-yard line in overtime, he has a choice. Go for it and try to win, or punt and hope for a tie or a lucky turnover. Most NFL coaches are notoriously risk-averse. They see a tie as better than a loss. Statistically, they’re right. A tie counts as a 0.5 win in the standings. If you’re 9-7-1, you’ll beat out a team that is 9-8. But man, it’s a tough pill for the fans to swallow.
The rule change in 2022 for the postseason—ensuring both teams get the ball regardless of a touchdown—was a huge win for fairness. But that rule only applies to the playoffs. In the regular season, if the first team scores a touchdown, the game is over. If they kick a field goal, the other team gets a shot. This creates a weird tactical loop where teams often settle for the tie rather than risking a turnover that leads to a walk-off loss.
Recent Ties That Shook the League
Don't think these games are rare. We've had some doozies lately.
- 2021: Detroit Lions vs. Pittsburgh Steelers (16-16). This was a comedy of errors. It was raining. Mason Rudolph was starting for Ben Roethlisberger. Jared Goff was struggling. There were fumbles, missed field goals, and a general sense of "nobody wants to win this." It was the first time the Lions didn't lose a game that season, which says a lot.
- 2018: Minnesota Vikings vs. Green Bay Packers (29-29). This was the Daniel Carlson game. The Vikings kicker missed three field goals, including two in overtime. It was a high-scoring, thrilling game that ended in a whimper because of a kicking meltdown.
- 2016: Seattle Seahawks vs. Arizona Cardinals (6-6). Perhaps the most famous "bad" tie in history. Both kickers missed chip-shot field goals in overtime. It was a defensive masterclass or an offensive disaster, depending on how you look at it.
The Playoff Implications are Terrifying
The "half-win" aspect of a tie is a nightmare for the people who run the playoff tiebreaker simulators. Usually, tiebreakers go to head-to-head records, then divisional records, then common games. But a tie skips all of that. It effectively removes you from the "tiebreaker" pool because your winning percentage will naturally be different from everyone else's.
If the Cowboys are 12-5 and the Eagles are 11-4-2, the Eagles actually have a higher winning percentage (.706 vs .705). That tiny fraction, caused by the ties, can determine who gets a first-round bye and home-field advantage through the NFC Championship.
It’s a quirk of the system that coaches hate but have to manage. You’ll often see a team play for the tie in the final minute of overtime if they know that half-point keeps them ahead of a rival in the standings. It’s boring football, but it’s smart business.
Is There a Better Way?
College football doesn't have ties. They have a shootout system where teams start at the 25-yard line and trade possessions until someone fails to match the other. It's high-octane, it's fair, and it's guaranteed to produce a winner.
So why doesn't the NFL do it?
Professional football is a war of attrition. The NFL Players Association (NFLPA) is vehemently against anything that adds more plays to a game. They already hate the 17-game season. Adding a "shootout" that could potentially go on for four or five "innings" is a non-starter for player safety. The human body can only take so many sub-zero temperature hits or turf-toe-inducing cuts.
Some have suggested a "points" system like the NHL or European soccer. Three points for a win, one for a tie, zero for a loss. This would actually incentivize teams to go for the win in overtime because the gap between a win and a tie would be much larger than it is now. Currently, the NFL uses a simple winning percentage: $Win% = \frac{Wins + 0.5 \times Ties}{Total Games}$.
Common Misconceptions About Overtime
People often think a tie is the worst thing that can happen. It's not.
I've talked to former players who say that walking off the field after a tie feels like a funeral, but when they look at the film on Monday, they realize they "saved" their season. If you're in a tough division like the AFC North, that tie against a divisional rival is essentially a "non-loss." It keeps the rival from gaining a full game on you.
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Another misconception: "The players don't know the rules."
Remember Donovan McNabb in 2008? He famously admitted he didn't know games could end in a tie after the Eagles tied the Bengals. While that was a hilarious media moment, most modern players are hyper-aware of the clock. They know exactly when the "play for the win" window closes and the "don't lose the ball" window opens.
Actionable Insights for Fans and Bettors
If you’re watching a game that’s heading toward a potential tie, or if you’re looking at the standings, keep these nuances in mind:
- Watch the Kickers' Ranges: In overtime, the "win" often comes down to the 35-yard line (a 53-yard field goal). If a team has a kicker like Justin Tucker, they play for the 35. If they have a struggling rookie, they are forced to be more aggressive, which ironically often leads to turnovers and losses rather than ties.
- Check the Standings Impact: If a team is currently "in the hunt" for a playoff spot, they are 80% more likely to play conservatively for the tie in the final two minutes of OT. They cannot afford the "0" in the win-loss column.
- Betting Caution: Most standard "Moneyline" bets in Vegas are for the result including overtime. If the game ends in a tie, the bet is usually a "push" and you get your money back. However, always check the "3-way Moneyline" (Win/Loss/Draw) because if you bet on a team to win and they tie, you lose that specific bet.
- The 10-Minute Clock is the Enemy: Since the 2017 change, the "long drive" is the death of a result. If the opening possession of OT takes 7 minutes and ends in a field goal, the game is almost guaranteed to be either a walk-off TD or a tie. There simply isn't enough time for three full possessions anymore.
Ties are weird. They are frustrating. They feel un-American in a "winner takes all" culture. But they are a fascinating part of the strategic chessboard that is the NFL. The next time you see a 0-0 score in the overtime period with two minutes left, don't just turn off the TV. Watch how the coaches manage the fear of losing. That’s where the real game is played.
To get ahead of the curve, keep an eye on the league's annual owner meetings in March. There is constant chatter about moving to the "both teams must possess the ball" rule for the regular season as well. If that happens, the number of NFL ties will actually likely increase, as the "matching field goal" scenario becomes the standard end-of-game script.
Next Steps for Deep-Diving Fans:
- Check the current NFL standings to see if a tie is currently acting as a "tiebreaker" for any playoff seeds.
- Review the NFL Rulebook, specifically Rule 16, to understand the exact ball possession requirements in the regular season versus the postseason.
- Look up the "scorigami" charts to see which tie scores (like 6-6 or 16-16) are the most common in league history.