The Cardinals played one of the two tie games in the NFL last season, a 6-6 spellbinder against the Seahawks that saw both teams miss field goals that could have ended the game during a 15-minute overtime period.
Cardinals coach Bruce Arians said that the effort left him with a “tired football team” that had to limit their practice time leading into a loss to the Panthers the next week. This week’s rule change that cuts overtime to 10 minutes, which could leave more in the tank if teams find themselves in a similar situation.
It may not lead to a different result on the scoreboard, but Arians thinks it will lead coaches to call plays differently than they would with 15 minutes to play. It isn’t one that involves 10-minute drives that eat up all the clock, however.
“I think it’ll affect the calling of the game a little bit,” Arians said, via ESPN.com. “People are worried about a 10-minute drive. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a 10-minute drive. I guess there have been a couple but if you get the ball run on you for 10 minutes, you deserve to lose anyway.”
It’s hard to argue with the notion that a different overtime length will lead to a different approach from coaches, but we won’t know exactly how they change until we get a few extended games to use as evidence.