NFL fans witnessed something never seen before. A lead change on the final play of the Super Bowl. The reason? Super Bowl LVIII became the first playoff game under the league’s new overtime rules for the postseason,

The NFL told teams this week that its sportsmanship-related rules will be “strictly enforced” during the postseason. That message was delivered in a Wednesday memo from Perry Fewell, the league’s senior vice president of officiating communications and administration, to general managers and head coaches.

When it comes to overtime, things can be kind of confusing in the NFL and that's because the league has a different set of rules for the playoffs that's not used in the regular season.  The current overtime rules for the postseason were implemented in 2022 and they guaranteed that both teams would get at least one possession in overtime.

Here’s how overtime works in the postseason, according to the NFL rulebook: Overtime comes into play if both teams are tied by the end of the fourth quarter. After a three minute intermission (or less), an extra 15 minutes will be added to the clock — instead of the typical 10 minutes fans see in the regular season.

The controversial overtime matchup between the Bills and Chiefs two seasons ago was a key motivator for the new postseason overtime rules.

Let’s jump in with the rules, via the NFL’s Football Operations site: If the score is still tied at the end of an overtime period — or if the second team’s initial possession has not ended — the teams will play another overtime period. Play will continue regardless of how many overtime periods are needed for a winner to be determined.