NFL owners have voted to adjust the overtime rules for playoff games.
Starting with the 2010 season, if a team wins the coin toss and kicks a field goal, the other team still gets a possession. If the game is tied by the other team on the first possession, then play continues under current sudden death rules.
However, should the team that wins the coin toss score a touchdown on their first possession, then they win and the game is over.
Owners voted 28-4 to approve the rule change on Tuesday during the league's annual meeting in Orlando, Fla.
The Redskins were among teams that approved the measure.
According to the NFL Network, only the Baltimore Ravens, Buffalo Bills, Cincinnati Bengals and Minnesota Vikings opposed the change.
The modification came about after it was deemed too many overtime games were ending with the team that won the coin toss winning the game on the first possession.
"We felt like this year's proposal, which we call modified sudden death, was really an opportunity to make what we think is a pretty good rule--sudden death even better," Atlanta Falcons president and NFL competition committee co-chair Rich McKay said.
Added McKay: "We felt like statistically it needed to be changed, that the [old way] wasn't producing the fairest result based on the effect of field goal accuracy and distance and the drive start."
Although the rules change applies only to the postseason, owners are considering adopting the measure for the regular season as well.
Last season, the Redskins played one overtime game, falling to the New Orleans Saints 33-30 in Week 13. The Redskins won the coin toss, but Mike Sellers fumbled on the offense's first possession and the Saints kicked a field goal to win the game.
The last time the Redskins played an overtime game that was decided on the opening possession was on Sept. 9, 2007, when Shaun Suisham kicked a 39-yard field goal to defeat the Miami Dolphins 16-13 at FedExField.