Solution Needed for 12 Defenders on the Field February 9, 2012, 7:15 am Late in the Super Bowl, on the Patriots" final drive, the Giants were called for having 12 men on the field. But the penalty was only 5 yards, and the time that drained off the clock - eight seconds - was well worth the punishment. The infraction was almost certainly unintentional - Justin Tuck was trying to hustle off the field. But what's to prevent other teams from copying this formula under similar circumstances? Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com: So when the clock is a factor late in a game, use extra defenders. As long as the penalty doesn't happen on the final play, the tactic serves only to chew up time. It's a safe bet that the league's competition committee will look at this issue in the off-season, or at least it should. And the solution seems simple: Put the time back on the clock, or at least put it back when inside the last two minutes of each half.