Despite one of the league's great offensive seasons, the NFL once again turned conservative when it came to changing rules.

The NFL owners meeting in Phoenix broke Wednesday with debate on whether to expand the playoffs going overtime -- but ultimately changing the overtime system was voted down. Why? Conservatism.

During the overtime discussion, critics of going to a two-possession concept exposed problems in the proposal. One of the big complaints was that it would make coaches turn conservative in overtime.

Colts general manager Bill Polian made one of the compelling arguments when he recalled what happened during their overtime victory in Denver. In that game, kicker Mike Vanderjagt booted a 51-yard game-winning field goal in overtime after snapper Justin Snow talked coach Tony Dungy into making the attempt. Having won the toss and knowing field possession is important in overtime, Dungy planned to punt after driving to the Broncos' 33.

Vanderjagt had just made a 54-yarder to put the game into overtime. He was confident. His snapper knew it. Dungy said yes and it turned out to be one of the most dramatic plays of the season.

In a two-possession overtime, Dungy would have never kicked a 51-yard field goal in overtime in a road game, particularly one in which it was snow. He would have punted, hoping to put the Broncos inside their 10.

"Kicking that 51-yard field goal turned out to be the play that turned around our season and inspired us to make the playoffs,'' Polian said. "Having sudden death in overtime puts you in a position where you might take risks. Keeping it as it is provides a reward for taking a risk.''

The Competition Committee was worried that coaches would kick off instead of receive if they won coin tosses. Instead of going for the win, coaches would play the percentages.

It's funny how everything was rationalized in the end resulting in the overtime proposal being defeated 17-14-1. While the plan to change the overtime rule got 17 votes, it was seven short of the 24 required for passage.

Commissioner Paul Tagliabue pushed to change the rule because of the growing trends in overtime. There were a record 25 overtimes in 2002. Ten of those games were decided by teams that scored on the first possession in overtime. Since 1994, those percentages have been quietly growing.

On Wednesday, the minority that defeated the change felt that they were only talking about 10 instances out of 256 games that would be different, so they blocked the change.

Bucs general manager Rich McKay doubted the overtime rule will change next year or in future years.

"I don't think this is one you are going to hear about again,'' McKay said.

Tagliabue knew he had a majority of the 32 owners supporting the change, so he campaigned for the extra votes needed on Tuesday night. On the floor, he presented the one-year idea. Redskins coach Steve Spurrier arose and said that he believed the current overtime system was better than the college overtime system in which each teams gets a possession on the 25.

Perhaps the biggest surprise of the meeting was that there was more support for expanding the playoffs than even Tagliabue thought. That's why he postponed a vote until the May 20 spring owners meeting in Philadelphia.

Because it didn't believe there was enough support for adding two playoff teams, the Competition Committee didn't study the impact of going from 12 to 14 teams. The committee didn't look at how much impact it would have with only the top seeds getting bye weeks. No one from the league talked with the television networks to see what they thought about adding product.

Of course, the league knew that the networks would like it. What would have to be negotiated, though, would be an increased rights fee from the networks for those two games, and that might not be done quickly. Those concepts will be presented in the May meeting.

There are three years remaining in the current television contract.

"We would have to see if there are some rules tweaks that we would need if we got to 14,'' McKay said. "We as a committee always operated on the concept that when we made the realignment three years ago that we would wait and see the results of two seasons under the new system before looking at adding playoff teams."

In all likelihood, the league will stay with 12 playoff teams next season, but the research done before the May meeting will probably lead to the NFL expanding to 14 playoff teams by 2004.

"I'm surprised there were so many in favor of adding the playoff teams,'' McKay said. "By the same token, I think there are a lot of traditionalists that don't want to do it.''

Little was changed at this meeting. In the final five minutes of games, a team that bangs an onside kick out of bounds won't be given a second chance. For years, the Competition Committee disliked the idea that teams that fail on an onside kick get a second chance after a 5-yard penalty. The NFL hates rewarding bad plays, and a second onside kick was a reward to a bad kick.

Polian submitted the five-minute idea and it got a sufficient number of votes to pass.

Once again, Chiefs coach Dick Vermeil failed in his efforts to get the NFL to use any of a team's eight inactive players on Sunday. Efforts to amend the 45-active player rules lost more votes this year. A year ago, Vermeil had 10 votes to make the inactive players active. At this meeting, there were less than seven.

"It will probably have to be passed with the support of the Players Association,'' Vermeil said. "The Players Association is for it, but the union is the only one who can have it changed. I didn't get up this time and speak. I've spoken my piece in the past. It's a foregone conclusion. I still believe the game is about the players. It doesn't come up how the players feel.''

Vermeil, though, is encouraged that the league will eventually expand the playoffs to 14 teams because that would bring the percentage of playoff teams back to 40 percent. It was that way before the recent wave of expansion.

"That might not be the case this year, but it will be a year from now,'' Vermeil said. "That will be good.''

John Clayton is a senior writer for ESPN.com.