NFL Playoffs 2015: Overtime Rules, Bracket and Postseason Format

The NFL's overtime rules are once again in the forefront of the globe's collective mind now that the playoffs are set to begin. 

Always the subject of much controversy, the latest batch of overtime playoff rules were so effective that the NFL voted this past June to make the rules apply to the regular season too.

Given the teams in the postseason, it is safe to expect at least a handful of games to need an extra frame. With that in mind, let's take a second to brush up on the rules that are sure to come under fire at some point over the course of the next month and change.

2014-15 NFL Playoffs Bracket and Format

First, a brief look at the bracket and format.

Wild Card Weekend is not only promising, it is a surefire way to throw the overtime rules into the spotlight. An AFC North clash between the Baltimore Ravens and Pittsburgh Steelers seems sure to go that way, as does a bout between a team with a losing record (Carolina) and one with a third-string quarterback (Arizona).

Justin Edmonds/Getty Images

When the Detroit Lions travel to Dallas to take on the Cowboys, the game may be either a shootout or a defensive struggle that needs extra frames. And if Cincinnati actually shows up in Indianapolis, that game may prove close too.

Of course, Tom Brady and the New England Patriots, Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos, Russell Wilson and the Seattle Seahawks and Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers will all kick back and await their opponents.

How boring, right?

While Carolina's qualification for the playoffs has the league allegedly thinking major changes, per Chris Mortensen of ESPN, the current bracket and format sure look as if things will work out just fine this postseason.

Overtime Rules 

Not to fret, folks. Donovan McNabb might not know the rules, either.

To be fair, things are complicated. 

The NFL wants a fair competitive landscape, which it felt was not happening in the postseason when teams that won the coin toss could drive down the field and kick a field goal to get a win. 

Now, the team that wins the coin toss must score a touchdown on the first possession in order to win.

If the team with the ball first kicks a field goal, the game continues. The team that lost the coin toss then gets the ball—a field goal continues the game, a touchdown ends it. 

If the game is tied after one possession for each side, things then hit a sudden-death format where the next score wins.

The rules are not without their flaws. Manning is not an advocate, as his Broncos lost the coin toss in Seattle back in Week 3 and then helplessly watched as Wilson and Co. drove down the field for the game-winning score.

As Mark Kiszla of The Denver Post captures, Manning was not pleased with the situation:

"

It puts a premium on the coin toss. I called tails at the beginning of the game, and went with it again in overtime. It was heads, and it proved to be a significant call. But that’s the way it is. And you’d like to not leave it to that, leave it to get to that situation.

"

Whether popular or not, the new format at least prohibits a team from losing on an early-overtime field goal, meaning the team that loses the coin toss at least has a better chance to touch the football than in past years.

NFL overtime is akin to college football. Gone is the BCS, but the College Football Playoff is certainly not without controversy. Expect plenty to crop up concerning these overtime rules sooner rather than later, but also expect thrilling fifth-period duels along the way. 

Stats courtesy of NFL.com. Advanced metrics via Pro Football Focus (subscription required).