[So Cal Rocket]

There doesn't seem to be a rational reason for the time-clock rule changes.

It's for Television... to fit the game into a nice, neat 3-hour time slot.

[Wyatt's Torch]

Unless they shorten the commercials, the only casualty will be the game itself. Of course, the networks would prefer not to have to show the pesky football game in between money making commercials. You know what CBS stands for right: Commercial Between Snaps.