DALLAS — The NFL playoffs start this weekend, and one new rule is coming with it.
Overtime will take on a different look, or at least give each team a better chance.
Under a new rule, both teams are guaranteed to get the ball in overtime, regardless if the first score is a touchdown or field goal.
That differs from how overtime is played during the regular season.
Under regular-season rules, if a team scores a touchdown first in overtime, the game is over. If they score a field goal, the other team gets a chance to score.
One other difference (that isn't new) between regular season and postseason overtime: The period is 15 minutes in the playoffs and 10 minutes in the regular season.
Let's walk through how the new overtime rule could play out this year.
Say the Dallas Cowboys and Tampa Bay Buccaneers go to overtime on Monday night, and Tampa Bay wins the coin toss and elects to receive the ball.
If Tampa Bay scores a field goal or a touchdown on their first possession, Dallas will then get the ball.
If Dallas fails to match the Bucs' score, the game will be over. If Dallas matches the Bucs' score, be it a touchdown or a field goal, the game goes into sudden death - meaning the next score wins.
(Sidenote: Dallas could also go for a two-point conversion on its responding touchdown and win the game outright. So they keep that in mind as a possibility this postseason.)
If the two teams remain tied after 15 minutes of play, they'll play another period.
The rule change came after last year's epic AFC Divisional Round playoff game between the Buffalo Bills and Kansas City Chiefs.
The Bills scored with 13 seconds remaining to take a 36-33 lead, only to have Patrick Mahomes lead a quick drive and put Kansas City in field goal range.
Harrison Butker made the 49-yard kick, sending the game to overtime, where the Chiefs won the coin toss, elected to receive, and then scored a touchdown to win the game.
The Bills and quarterback Josh Allen never touched the ball in overtime.
The game sparked immediate debate on how to improve NFL overtime rules. And two months later, NFL owners voted to make the change, for the playoffs only.
What about college overtime rules?
College football gives each team a chance to have the ball, but those possessions start on the opponent's 25-yard line.
If the game remains tied after the first round of possessions, teams are required to run a two-point conversion after scoring. Starting in the third overtime, the possessions are reduced solely to two-point conversion attempts until a winner is decided.