Proposed rule would make overtime 15 minutes again

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For the last three seasons, overtime in the NFL regular season has lasted a maximum of 10 minutes. That could change this year.

The NFL owners will consider at the upcoming league meeting a rule change that would make overtime 15 minutes again.

The shorter overtime has led to some complaints that it simply doesn’t give the teams enough time: If the team that receives the overtime kickoff has a long drive to start the overtime but doesn’t score a touchdown to win the game, the team that kicked off has very little time left.

When the league shortened overtime it cited player safety as the reason, and it’s rare for the NFL to reverse a player safety rule. So it appears unlikely that the proposal will pass.