Sure, that’s possible. And every minute of football that is not played will have some reduction of injuries.

But, the amount saved by this rule change will be negligible. Over the past 23 years, there have been approximately 175 minutes of football played between the 10:00 and 15:00 minute marks of overtime. That’s an average of 7 minutes per year, across the whole league.

But perhaps those are games in which players are most susceptible to injury because they have already been playing for so long. It’s not so much to cut down on the total number injuries; it’s to better ensure the safety of those playing when these situations arise.

It’s like wearing batting helmets in baseball. I don’t think they drastically cut down the number of injuries because players very rarely get beaned in the head. But they certainly help those who *do* get hit in the head. I think that analogy works.