There is no overtime in NFL preseason games — if an August game is tied after four quarters, it simply ends in a tie. The league eliminated preseason overtime in 2021, part of the same restructuring that trimmed the preseason from four games to three, and the logic was airtight: overtime exists to produce a winner, and preseason games don’t need one. Nobody’s standings move, and the extra snaps only added injury risk to the exhibition nobody wanted lengthened.
The rule makes preseason the outlier on the NFL’s overtime spectrum. Regular-season games get a 10-minute overtime with both teams guaranteed a possession, and can still end tied if it expires level; playoff games play full 15-minute periods until a winner emerges. Preseason skips the question entirely — which means the box score curiosity of a 20-20 final in August is working exactly as designed, and always will until the league decides exhibition wins matter, which it won’t.
NFL Preseason
Preseason Overtime Rules
There aren’t any — and that’s the rule
NonePreseason OT
2021Eliminated Since
TiesStand as Final
10 minReg. Season OT
Overtime Across the NFL’s Formats
| Situation |
Rule |
Detail |
| Preseason game tied after 4 quarters |
It ends in a tie |
Final. No extra period, no shootout, nothing |
| When did that start? |
2021 |
Overtime was eliminated alongside the move to the 17-game season and 3-game preseason |
| Before 2021 |
One 10-minute OT period |
Preseason previously used a single sudden-victory-style period |
| Regular season, for contrast |
10-minute OT; ties possible |
Both teams guaranteed a possession under current rules |
| Playoffs, for contrast |
15-minute periods until someone wins |
No ties, ever |
Why It Was Cut
The 2021 change was framed as player safety math: preseason overtime produced extra full-contact snaps for exactly the players with the least to gain from them — and coaches had long treated OT periods as a nuisance, emptying benches rather than chasing wins.
Does Anyone Miss It?
The players deciding preseason games in the fourth quarter are fighting for roster spots, and a tie costs them nothing — evaluation happens per-snap, not per-result. The only party that ever wanted preseason OT was the scoreboard.
The Record-Book Quirk
Preseason ties don’t appear anywhere official — exhibition results aren’t part of NFL records at all — so a tied preseason finale vanishes even more completely than a preseason win does. See our companion piece on whether any of the stats count.
The Bottom Line
Tied after 60 minutes in August means done after 60 minutes in August — no overtime, by design, since 2021. The rest of the exhibition rulebook is in NFL preseason rules explained, and the stats question in do preseason stats count?
