Sixty minutes and four quarters were not enough to separate the San Francisco 49ers and the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LVIII.
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For the second time in the history of the Super Bowl, an overtime session was required to determine the NFL's champion for the season. Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas played host to an enthralling encounter between Patrick Mahomes' Chiefs and Brock Purdy's 49ers, which featured tough-as-nails defense from both sides and a big second-half rally.
What are the Super Bowl overtime rules?
Seeing as the NFL's championship game can not end in a tie, 15-minute overtime sessions can theoretically extend indefinitely. However, Super Bowl LI -- the only other overtime game that needed extra football -- ended less than four minutes into overtime.
Both the Chiefs and the 49ers are guaranteed a possession in overtime, even if the team that originally has the football ends up scoring a touchdown. These rules were changed after a controversial divisional playoff game between the Chiefs and the Buffalo Bills in the 2021/22 NFL season, in which Kansas City tied the game in regulation with a 13-second drive before Mahomes tossed a walk-off touchdown to Travis Kelce.
As the 49ers kicked a field goal on the first possession of overtime on Sunday, the Chiefs have two options: extend overtime with a field goal of their own, or win it with a touchdown.
The Kyle Shanahan factor
In an NFL first, San Francisco head coach Kyle Shanahan has now participated in both of the Super Bowls that have gone to overtime since the game's introduction in 1967.
At the end of the 2016 season, the Atlanta Falcons -- with Shanahan as offensive coordinator -- played the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LI. Atlanta notoriously blew a 28-3 lead in the second half, as New England came all the way back to tie the game at 28 and send it to overtime. The crowd at NRG Stadium in Houston was stunned when the Patriots won in the extra session, 34-28. Shortly thereafter, Shanahan departed to take the 49ers job.