With the NFL season finally underway on Thursday, Sept. 7, now’s a good a time as any to revisit a very signifiant rule change made during the offseason, which will debut in the Chiefs–Lions matchup. In May, NFL owners approved a change that will now see the ball placed at the 25-yard line if it is fair caught behind the 25-yard line after a free kick (safety or kickoff). Before the rule change, the ball would be placed at wherever the fair catch was made. The change is only for this year as of now. This is the latest move within the sport to limit kick returns due to the heightened dangers of running full speed at opposing teams. NFL chairman of the NFL’s competition committee Rich McKay cited increased concussions as the reason for the move and said that college football was the inspiration for the change made over the summer. “The kickoff play for us has been a play that has had a lot of changes for us over the years, all really driven by health and safety,” he told NFL Network in May. “The concussion rate on the play has gone up. It’s gone up because the ball is being returned more by kicks that are being hung inside the 5-yard line. College made this rule change in maybe 2018 or 2019. We looked at their data and said, you know what, this is the right thing to do now.” It’s likely that the new kickoff rule will be on full display Thursday when the reigning champion Chiefs square off against the Lions on NBC at 8:30 p.m. ET. Kick returners may think twice when seeing the ball hang just a bit too long.
If exhibition games were any indication, coaches won't change their approach until it's clear that their guys aren't likely to occasionally break one loose. I can't recall any fair catches made.
On that note though, there's nothing to lose in the Preseason. They want to see how those guys on the field play more than they care about field position. Now that its real, I imagine that will change for a lot of clubs. Personally, I want every time to be a touchback on both sides. Eliminate the risk.
Is there any actual proof of higher risk of injury on kickoffs? Can't recall any injuries from the kickoff.
I hate this. If you were going to pin them on the 15 yards line they had to fair catch. Now if they do they get to go to the 25. What's the point.
The point is to stop trying to be cute and just kick the damn ball off. Abandon trying to pin them back.
Abandon field position??? Last time I looked its a huge part of the game. You play choices are different on the 10 yard line vs. the 25.
When its likely to hurt you more often than it helps, its just a dumb risk. How many huge returns are you willing to give up in the attempt to pin a team back a few times a year? Just count on the defense to do their job from the 25.
Why not just eliminate the kick-off altogether and just put the ball on the 25? That way you eliminate any risk of somebody on special teams accidentally stepping in a gopher hole and twisting an ankle.
I recall how upset this change made a lot of coaches. They felt they were left out of the process. I just wonder if some will be petty enough to avoid fair catches until they see opponents benefitting from it. Some old heads might think that having an average starting position on the 21-yard line is worth it if there's an opportunity to break a long return. Even if it's only going to happen one out of twenty times.
I'm all for it. I also want to eliminate the single point XP. Team scores a TD, coach puts up one finger, 7 points. Go to commercial, come back, other team has it on the 20. Smooth.
I'd be cool if a touchdown was worth 7 points and teams could run a play to go to 8 while losing a point if they fail in the PAT. It'd be interesting to see which coaches had the tendency to get the extra point if there was an associated risk.
I would be strongly for that. The other ST change I'd love is if teams were limited to 4 punts per game. Last year, the average was 4.1, so it wouldn't change the total much, but it would force teams to reconsider punting early in games, and also force them to be careful in their own territory, trying for 1st downs instead of taking deep shots.
Just let it go and bounce into the EZ. After they changed the rules so that its not a live ball any more once it crosses the line, there's really little risk.
I'm kinda stupid. When I saw this I was thinking of punts. Then last night they kept fair catching and I was saying "why aren't they moving to the 25???" And realized it was kick offs - Sometimes I can be so stupid. Sorry D25 my mistake - I couldn't for the life of me figure out why you wanted to get rid of fair catches on punts. LoL.
Remember when that guy for the Steelers let the kickoff bounce into the end zone and ran away from it, letting the other team pounce on it for a touchdown? That was funny (not for Steelers fans, though).
Ok, I got this whole kick off thing figured out…time to turn it all on its head. Instead of KICKING the ball off (remember, it’s a live ball), punt the ball, high but short, then it becomes a rugby match for the ball and their stupid kick off rule won’t apply.
This feels like a "Belichek rule" since he was one of the few that would try to kick it around the 5 yard line and pin teams back. I'm not sure how often this will actually happen though since it would have to be a high kick landing within the field of play. If a guy gets the ball at the 10, for example, he's going to take his chances unless it's a Reggie Robie type punt that would hit the top of the current stadium roof.
