Why Cowboys-Packers game ended in a tie after overtime for OT rules

Billy Heyen

Why Cowboys-Packers game ended in a tie after overtime for OT rules image

Wow, the clock mattered.

The Green Bay Packers almost used too much time on the penultimate play, but one second remained on the scoreboard after a Jordan Love pass fell incomplete on third down in overtime.

And at that point, the Packers had only one option: They kicked the Brandon McManus field goal.

And that was 40-40.

There is no double overtime.

It ends in a tie, the second-highest scoring tie in NFL history.

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Why was Cowboys-Packers a tie?

The Dallas Cowboys and Green Bay Packers played 10 minutes of overtime and were tied 40-40 after that.

There is no additional OT in the regular season.

The league doesn't want games going on forever, in the interests of player safety.

Each team only got one drive in overtime.

Brandon Aubrey kicked a short field goal for the Cowboys.

And then Brandon McManus kicked a short field goal for the Packers.

The new OT rules allow each team a possession no matter what, and there weren't any sudden death possessions after that because the clock ran out.

So a field goal apiece sent it from 37-37 at the end of regulation to 40-40 at the end of overtime, and a tie for the Packers and the Cowboys.

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Billy Heyen

Billy Heyen is a freelance writer with The Sporting News. He is a 2019 graduate of Syracuse University who has written about many sports and fantasy sports for The Sporting News. Sports reporting work has also appeared in a number of newspapers, including the Sandusky Register and Rochester Democrat & Chronicle