In postseason play, the Alliance of American Football’s overtime procedures will match the NFL’s. In the regular season, the AAF’s overtime rules couldn’t be any more different.
The new league, which starts play this weekend, will consist of one round of first-and-goal opportunities from the 10. Each team gets a crack at scoring a touchdown, no field goals are permitted, and (as it will be for all AAF touchdowns) teams scoring touchdown may try two-point conversions only.
It’s a dramatic change, and it will result typically in much shorter extra sessions. But it also could result in plenty of ties.
If both teams fail to score a touchdown, tie. If both teams score a touchdown and convert the two-point conversion, tie. If both teams score a touchdown and fail to convert the two-point conversion, tie.
With only four games per week and 40 for the season, there may not be many overtime games at all. When they happen, they’ll be fascinating, they’ll move quickly, and they may leave that unsatisfying feeling of no one winning and no one losing far too often.