The Green Bay Packers and the Dallas Cowboys treated fans to an absolute classic on Sunday Night Football. The Cowboys took the lead late in the fourth quarter before the Packers stormed down the field to tie the game as time expired and send it to overtime. The Packers won the toss and deferred the ball to the Cowboys.
Here’s why the Packers didn’t take the ball first in the overtime period.
New NFL OT Rules
The Packers didn’t want the ball to start overtime, so they knew what they would need to match in case the Cowboys scored. Both teams get the ball under the new 2025 rules in overtime. The postseason rules from 2024 are now in play for the regular season in 2025.
Based on the new rules, both teams were guaranteed an opportunity to touch the ball before a winner is declared during the overtime period. The winner of the coin toss typically decides to receive the ball first; if they score a touchdown, the other team is allowed a chance to do the same. If they don’t score, then the game is over.
If the winner of the coin toss kicks a field goal, the other team can win by scoring a touchdown on the following possession. Once both teams have touched the ball, the next score wins. This means that even if a team kicks a field goal, they are the winners.
Because of these new rules, the Packers were able to choose to defer to take the ball second. Theoretically, they could’ve deferred under the old rules, but that would simply be giving the opposing team the opportunity to score a touchdown without getting a chance.
IT ENDS IN A TIE! pic.twitter.com/51IbOCSvHU
— NFL (@NFL) September 29, 2025
The Packers knew what they needed to win the game. If Dallas scored a touchdown, they would need a touchdown. If they kicked a field goal, then the Packers would need a field goal to keep it going or a touchdown to win. But if time ran out during a possession and the score was still tied, the game would end in a tie, which was what ultimately happened.
The game ended as a tie with both teams scoring 40 points, but it came down to the wire and was quite the treat. Sunday Night Football has delivered plenty of entertainment in Micah Parsons’ return to Dallas. The Green Bay defense didn’t help its case with Parsons, as they allowed a lot of points.
