NFL coaches think shortening OT won’t result in more ties

The NFL has been exploring different ways to make the game more engaging for fans in light of declining television ratings. One option the competition committee presented to owners this week is to shorten overtime, which may also make the game safer for players.

Currently, the regular season overtime is 15 minutes long. Owners will vote on a proposed rule change that would shorten overtime to 10 minutes, and some coaches spoke out in favor of the rule.

Houston Texans head coach Bill O’Brien said at the owners meetings Tuesday that he thinks a change may force teams to be more aggressive to walk away with a win in overtime.

“You may see more risk taking, maybe an onside kick to gain possession because you know you don’t have as much time,” O’Brien said. “I think a lot of that depends on who you’re playing.”

The benefits of a 10-minute overtime may go beyond simply making the game more exciting. Just five fewer minutes on the field should be better for players physically.

“I think the main gist is to take some plays off of these players so they can recover,” O’Brien said. “I think it takes a toll when you play a long overtime before you have to get ready to play the next week.”

Baltimore Ravens head coach John Harbaugh agrees.

”First of all, the number of plays that these guys play, then take that to the next week, is really a competitive disadvantage,” Harbaugh said. “Guys get worn out. It’s hard to recover from one week to the next.”

Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin said that player recovery was the main reason he supported the rule change.

“So obviously we want to have clarity in terms of the victor, but if we can reduce that amount of time and get out of the stadium, and doing so with fewer snaps, I think that is beneficial to both teams, regardless of outcome,” Tomlin said.

The rule change wouldn’t necessarily result in more ties, either, according to Harbaugh.

“And secondly, 10 minutes seems to me like it’s long enough to determine a sudden death winner,” Harbaugh said. “Usually by 10 minutes it seems like everyone’s just trying to survive the last five.”

O’Brien doesn’t want to see more ties, but he doesn’t think that’s a likely outcome if the rule does change.

“I don’t think it will [result in more ties]. I don’t want to see a bunch of ties, I can tell you that,” O’Brien said. “I don’t think that that’s going to happen. If you look at the stats on overtime, probably most of the overtimes are over before 10 minutes.”

And if shortening overtime does lead to more ties, that’s not a problem for Harbaugh.

“Wouldn’t bother me,” Harbaugh said. “Ties, they count in the standings.”

Shortening overtime is one of a few changes the competition committee presented to owners this week. However, nine owners opposed a shorter OT period, postponing the vote until a later date.