NFL sets record with 22 OT games

[Grandfather]

(Yahoo site)
December 15, 2002

When Seattle beat Atlanta 30-24 in overtime Sunday, it set an NFL record for OT games in a season at 22.

The previous record of 21 was set in 1995.
There has been at least one OT game in 12 of the 15 weeks, and three times there have been at least three OT games. There were four on Oct. 20.

There was even a tie: Atlanta and Pittsburgh played to a 34-34 stalemate on Nov. 10. It was the first NFL tie in five years. The Falcons are 1-2-1 in overtime this season.

There have been 341 overtime games since the league introduced it for the 1974 season. That's an average of just under 12 a season, including this one.

But the number of overtime games has increased since 1994, even though that's the year when the NFL added the 2-point conversion.