"The Josh Allen rule" - NFL fans react to league-changing regular season overtime rules from the 2025 season

A new rule in the NFL will change how overtime is played. NFL owners have voted to pass a rule that allows both teams to possess the ball in overtime in the regular season. The ruling was first reported by ESPN NFL insider Adam Schefter on Tuesday.

“NFL owners now have passed a rule that both teams will be allowed to possess the ball in overtime in the regular season. The original proposal was for a 15 minute OT; that now has been amended to 10 minutes,” Schefter reported.

Fan reactions to the new rule have been mixed.

This fan called it “The Josh Allen rule,” alluding to the AFC divisional round game where Josh Allen had to stand on the sidelines in overtime as the Chiefs marched down the field and scored a touchdown.

This Buccaneer fan agrees with the move after their team lost two such regular-season games last season.

This fan also likes the proposed rule change. They replied: “Game on. OT will feel more level now. Now, may the best team win. Have to stop AND score (or vice versa) instead of just score.”

This user is already strategizing, suggesting that the winner of the coin toss should always go second.

They commented: “You take the ball second in this scenario every time.”

However, the support for this rule change was not unanimous.

This user does not like the change. They wrote: “Stop ruining the game please.”

This fan is concerned that this change will result in more games ending in a tie. They stated: “This is just going to lead to more ties and nobody likes ties.”

One user would rather the NFL ditch the entire format and go to the college football-style overtime where the two teams alternate offensive red-zone possessions.

They wrote: “Just switch to college overtime style.., it’s not that hard”

Overtime rule was initially changed due to the Chiefs-Bills game in the AFC divisional round in 2022

The overtime rule was first changed in 2022 after an epic Buffalo Bills and Kansas City Chiefs battle in the AFC divisional round was decided by a coin toss. The Chiefs won the coin toss and scored a touchdown to end the game. Bills quarterback Josh Allen had to watch from the sidelines for the entire OT period, and the new rule was passed the following offseason.

The new rule stipulated that both teams would have the opportunity to possess the football, a move away from the "first score wins" style that was used previously. The rule change in 2022 was only limited to playoff games, but it has now been extended to include regular season games as well.