Las Vegas Raiders

Raiders coach Jack Del Rio has a simple way to speed up NFL games

Published Mar. 27, 2017 4:48 p.m. ET

Cameron DaSilva

The NFL announced changes to speed up play and make games more enjoyable to viewers. Roger Goodell acknowledged that there are too many breaks in the action, and the replay process can be streamlined, hoping that the forthcoming adjustments can provide more bang for viewers’ buck.

His proposed changes were great, but Raiders coach Jack Del Rio had an even better suggestion: less flags. That’s something fans would love to see, knowing how frustrating it is to have the game come to a halt for constant laundry on the field.

“For them to try to move along the game, I’m all for it,” Del Rio said on NFL Network, via ProFootballTalk. “I have one suggestion: Just don’t throw so many flags. We saw so many flags last year in Oakland, I’d like to see a lot less flags thrown. So hopefully we get that flow of the game issue.”

Obviously, that’s easier said than done, and it does require some cooperation from the players. They’re the ones committing the penalties, regardless of whether they’re warranted or not.

If the NFL can cut down on penalties, Del Rio says, millennial fans will pay better attention to the games.

“With the millennials and people nowadays, you’re not going to keep their attention if you have too many pauses and delays,” Del Rio said. “They want things right now. So for us to speed up the game, I think that’s smart.”