NFL Playoffs 2016: Overtime Rules, Bracket and Postseason Format

The start of the playoffs means that there is no limit to overtime if the teams are tied after 60 minutes.

Some fans and players may not realize that a tie game is a legitimate possibility during the regular season, even though there was none this year. Regular-season overtime games do not go past one 15-minute period.

However, once a postseason game goes to overtime, a winner is guaranteed. Nearly all overtime games end in the first extra session, but there have a been a few multiple overtime games in NFL history.

The most memorable and longest was played on Christmas Day in 1971, when the Miami Dolphins outlasted the Kansas City Chiefs 27-24 in double overtime on a 37-yard field goal by Garo Yepremian. The balding Cypriot tiemaker would gain infamy a year later in Miami's Super Bowl VII victory over the Washington Redskins, but he was a hero on that day when he made his winning kick after the two teams played an extra 22 minutes and 40 seconds.

Multiple overtimes are in play during the postseason, but the rest of the overtime rules are similar to the regular-season regulations. 

If the team receiving the kickoff gains possession, moves down the field and kicks a successful field goal, the opposing team gets a chance to have a possession as well. If that team matches the field goal, the game becomes sudden death. But if it scores a touchdown, it wins the game.

If the team that takes the opening possession scores a touchdown, the game is over as well. The kicking team does not get a chance to possess the ball if it gives up a touchdown on the opening possession of the extra session.

The common perception is that the only event that ends an overtime game on the first possession is a touchdown. However, the team that kicks off may not need a possession to win if it can force a safety on the opening possession. That two-point safety ends the game.

A field goal can end the game on the opening possession if the kicking team generates a successful onside kick and boots a field goal. The opposing team is considered to have had the "opportunity" to possess the ball, and that's why the game would be decided.

If the onside kick is unsuccessful and the team receiving the kickoff gets a go-ahead field goal, it does not end the game. Attempting an onside kick and failing to come up with it does not equate to an opportunity to possess the ball.

Conference	Seed	Team	Opponent	Round
AFC	1	Denver	Houston, Kansas City or Pittsburgh	Divisional
AFC	2	New England	Cincinnati, Houston or Kansas City	Divisional
AFC	3	Cincinnati	vs. Pittsburgh	Wild-Card
AFC	4	Houston	vs. Kansas City	Wild-Card
AFC	5	Kansas City	at Houston	Wild-Card
AFC	6	Pittsburgh	at Cincinnati	Wild-Card
NFC	1	Carolina	Washington, Green Bay or Seattle	Divisional
NFC	2	Arizona	Minnesota, Washington or GreenBay	Divisional
NFC	3	Minnesota	vs. Seattle	Wild-Card
NFC	4	Washington	vs. Green Bay	Wild-Card
NFC	5	Green Bay	at Washington	Wild-Card
NFC	6	Seattle	at Minnesota	Wild-Card

THE BRACKETS

The playoff brackets consist of two equal six-team brackets, one representing the AFC and the other representing the NFC.

The NFL has conducted its playoffs like this since the 1990 season. 

The top two seeds have a bye in the Wild Card Round of the playoffs, and the division winner with the third-best record plays the wild-card team with the second-best record. The division winner with the fourth-best record plays the wild-card team with the best record.

The winners of the wild-card games will move on to the divisional playoffs, which are scheduled for January 16 and 17. The winner with the lowest seed will play the division winner with the top seed, while the wild-card winner with the highest seed will play the No. 2 seed.

Jason Miller/Getty Images

Using the AFC bracket as an example, the third-seeded Cincinnati Bengals will host the sixth-seeded Pittsburgh Steelers and the fourth-seeded Houston Texans host the fifth-seeded Kansas City Chiefs.

If the seeds hold up and the Bengals and Texans win, Houston would go on the road to play the top-seeded Denver Broncos, while Cincinnati would go to New England to play the second-seeded New England Patriots.

The winners of the divisional playoffs would meet in the AFC conference championship on Jan. 24. If form holds and the Broncos and Patriots win those games, New England would go to Denver to decide which team represents the AFC in the Super Bowl.

The winner of that game will play in Super Bowl 50 at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, California, Feb. 7.