Changes to the kickoff and its relation to the Dolphins

Five years ago, the NFL moved the spot of the kickoff up from the 30 yard line to the 35, in the hopes of forcing more touchbacks and creating fewer injuries. Many were opposed, but I was in favor. It worked to increase the number of touchbacks, as they went from about 20% to around 60% over that period, but it also led to many kickoff return men becoming more and more brazen, and taking more risks with their returns, including bringing out kicks from 9 yards deep, something that was almost unheard of before. This year, the league has changed the touchback itself, moving it up to the 25 yard line from its normal home at the 20, to further encourage teams to tell their KR men to just take a knee.

Personally, I've always just wanted Dolphins return men to take the touchback and start the offense at the 20 yard line. The risks seem to always outweigh the rewards, and this was further highlighted last season when the KR team bungled the return in multiple games, forcing the offense to start the drive within their own 5, and resulting in safetys. Lately, I wondered how much the Dolphins success, or lack thereof, has colored my own opinion of the process. The Fins rarely seem to get the big KR themselves, but the danger of the other team doing it is always there. So I looked up the stats for the entire league starting at 1990 (when I became a diehard, every week fan, and a convenient spot to go back to, as many detailed stats were begun to be tracked at that point).

What I found was that the Dolphins are tied for the fewest KR TDs in the league over that period, with 4. The Jets are the leader with 19, and the league average is around 12. That includes the Jaguars, Panthers, Ravens, Browns and Texans, who have all played fewer seasons than Miami has. The Dolphins are also T-9th in most KR TD allowed, with 11. And if you don't remember, two of the four that Miami did get came in the same game vs the Jets by Ted Ginn. So, if you were ever like me, and kept thinking to yourself that the KR process is a part of the game that hurts the Dolphins a lot more than it helps them, you were right. In fact, the team once went 13 years between KR TDs, had just 1 in a 21 year stretch, and 6 of the 11 in team history happened before 1982.

And though not as closely related to the new touchback rule, the Fins also have the 4th fewest PR TDs over that period, with 6. One more than the Jets, Texans and Jaguars. And the Dolphins 10 total KR/PR TDs is last in the league over the period. Most teams have over 20, and several have 30 or more. Miami has allowed only 7 PR TDs though, so the combined number of 13 between them and their opponents is second fewest in the league, behind the Texans, who have only been playing since 2002.

And another note, 7 of the 11 KR TDs allowed in Miami history have happened since 2004, and 5 of those were vs division opponents, each in a Miami loss.

 

I don't have a quick and easy reference for length of FGs made, but it certainly does feel like our opponents seem to hit long and/or pressure FGs vs us at a much higher rate than they should. Its been especially bad since 2002. Since then, opponents are making over 83.5% of total FGs vs Miami. Miami has had the 6th most FGs attempted vs them, and the 4th most made, and doing some quick math, it looks like only that puts the team in the top 3-4 for percentage. Over that same period, the Patriots opponents have made almost 100 fewer vs them, and made only 76.7% of their tries.