Like many team sports, American football is structured with breaks to allow players and viewers to regroup. While a National Football League (NFL) game is officially scheduled for one hour of play, the actual duration is considerably longer. The average NFL game typically lasts around 3 hours and 12 minutes, and college football games average even slightly longer at 3 hours and 24 minutes. Understanding the structure of these games, particularly the concept of quarters, is fundamental to appreciating the sport.
Breaking Down the Game: Quarters in Football
American football games are divided into four quarters, each lasting 15 minutes of play. These quarters are separated by breaks that punctuate the game. A significant 12-minute halftime break occurs after the second quarter, providing a longer intermission. Additionally, shorter two-minute breaks take place at the end of the first and third quarters. These shorter breaks are primarily for teams to switch ends of the field, ensuring fairness as field conditions or wind direction can sometimes favor one side.
At the conclusion of the first and third quarters, play pauses, but importantly, the team in possession of the ball retains possession when the game resumes for the next quarter. This is not the case at halftime. The second half of the game commences with a kickoff, mirroring the start of the game in the first quarter, with teams now playing in the opposite direction from the first half.
The game clock in football is not continuously running. It strategically stops under several circumstances, including incomplete pass attempts, when a player goes out of bounds, or when a penalty is called by the referee. The clock restarts once the ball is set back in place by an official and is ready for the next play. Between the second and third quarters, the halftime intermission extends for approximately 13 minutes, allowing for a more substantial break where teams typically leave the field to strategize and rest.
Overtime in Football: What Happens in Case of a Tie?
If the score remains tied at the end of regulation time, meaning after the four quarters of standard play, the game proceeds into overtime. In the NFL, regular season overtime is a 10-minute period designed to determine a winner.
Following the end of regulation, a brief three-minute intermission takes place before the 10-minute overtime period begins. Each team is granted two timeouts during each overtime period to manage strategy and player fatigue. Overtime continues until a definitive winner emerges. Interestingly, the 2022 NFL season saw 20 games go into overtime, closely following the 21 games that went to overtime in the 2021 season, highlighting the frequency of closely contested matches.
NFL Regular Season Overtime Rules
For regular season games, NFL overtime rules are structured to ensure fairness and encourage a decisive outcome:
- A coin toss determines which team receives the ball first in overtime. The visiting team captain calls the toss.
- Each overtime period is 10 minutes long.
- Both teams must have the opportunity to possess the ball, unless the first team with possession scores a touchdown on their opening drive, in which case they win immediately. If the first team only scores a field goal, the other team gets a chance to possess the ball. A defensive safety scored by the team receiving the ball first also ends the game immediately in their favor.
- If the score remains tied after the first overtime period, or if the second team’s initial possession hasn’t concluded, subsequent 10-minute overtime periods will be played until a winner is decided.
- A two-minute break occurs between each overtime period, but there is no halftime break after the second overtime period.
NFL Postseason Overtime Rules
NFL postseason overtime rules are even more geared towards producing a winner and differ slightly from the regular season:
- If a game remains tied after the first overtime period in the postseason, another coin toss takes place.
- Overtime continues essentially as a new quarter, with the first team to score any points declared the winner (sudden death).
- The captain who lost the initial overtime coin toss can choose to receive the ball or select which end of the field to defend, unless the team winning the toss deferred their choice.
- Each team receives three timeouts per half, including overtime.
- Timing rules mirroring the end of the second and fourth regulation quarters apply at the end of the second and fourth overtime periods.
- If no winner is determined after four overtime periods, another coin toss occurs, and play continues until a winner is declared, ensuring a definitive resolution to playoff games.
*It’s worth noting that the overtime system was introduced to regular season games in 1974. In 2017, the length of each overtime period was adjusted from 15 minutes to the current 10 minutes. This change was made to enhance player safety and potentially increase the pace of the game during these critical moments.
