NFL could see more ties with new rule

First: Shorter OTs and more ties? There were two tie games played in the NFL last season. The Arizona Cardinals and Seattle Seahawks played 15 minutes of overtime without producing a winner, and the Washington Redskins and Cincinnati Bengals went all the way to London for their just-like-kissing-your-sister moment.

If that number increases this season because of the NFL potentially reducing overtime to 10 minutes in the name of player safety, will it be hailed as an end-of-the-(football-)worldlevel calamity?

There's a chance that everyone is about to find out.

NFL owners meet Tuesday in Chicago and they could vote then on a proposal by the competition committee to cut overtime from 15 minutes to 10 in preseason and regular season games. The measure must be ratified by at least 24 of 32 teams to go into effect, and some within the league believe it indeed will be approved. The proposal was considered by the owners at the annual league meeting back in March, but was tabled without a vote.

Proposals made by the competition committee in the name of player safety generally are ratified by the owners with little to no opposition. In this case, committee members say they want to lessen wear and tear on players. They say they don't want any team to ever face the prospect of playing what amounts to a five-quarter game on a Sunday and then have to come back and play another game on a Thursday night.

If that results in more ties, supporters of the proposal say, so be it.

One point made by some who back the proposal is that ties actually serve to simplify matters a bit at the end of the regular season when playoff scenarios are unfolding. A team with a record of 9-6-1, for instance, finishes ahead of a 9-7 team and behind a 10-6 team without tiebreaking procedures coming into play.

That's unlikely to satisfy those who say they want to see games played to a someone- wins- and- someone- loses conclusion, and that going home without such an outcome is a waste of everyone's time.

The overtime format for postseason games would be unchanged while other overtime rules would remain as is. So a team still could win a game with a touchdown on the opening possession of overtime. An opening-possession field goal still would result in the opposing team having a chance to tie the game with its own field goal, or win it with a touchdown.

And what happens if a team takes 9 minutes 59 seconds off the clock on the opening possession and kicks a field goal? That would be too bad for its opponent, which would get a possession with a chance to tie or win the game lasting one second. The thinking is that everyone knows the parameters going in, so don't let your opponent hold the ball that long.

It's a rule change that would only come up only a few times per season. But it could have a significant impact even with its limited application.