What Do You Think of New Kickoff Rule?

Well, we have had a few weeks to digest the new kickoff rule that was put in place this season, and I know that there are many of us who have thought about this rule and what it means to the NFL. 

We felt good when we saw a kickoff return for touchdown frenzy in the first game of the season (with the Saints and Packers), and it appeared as if the kickoff rule really wasn’t going to matter.

But things have changed now.  Teams are kicking the ball into and through the end zone much more and letting their opponents take it at the 20-yard line and try to do something.  There aren’t too many return specialists bringing the ball back out past the 30 line (the average starting position now is the 28 yard line for most teams), but there are some having success at breaking kickoff returns. 

The number of kickoff returns that have been returned for a touchdown this year (through the fourth week of the season) stands at four.  All four kickoffs were taken out from the end zone, and all are over 100 yards.

At this time last year (through week four), there were eight kickoffs returned, and most of those were less than 100 yards.

So there has been a definite downswing in the number of kickoff returns and field position.  Perhaps this was a way to even things out and not make the kickoff return so important in the scheme of how teams win games and how special teams units help their team gain field position and score points.

And we know that the NFL went with safety as a factor for this as well, but was that the real reason?

The kickoff return is an important part of the game.  It can help or hurt opposing offenses and defenses in terms of field position, and if your special teams are good enough, it can give you an option to score when you might need it.  Taking away the most exciting play in the game, the kickoff return for a touchdown, was done in the interest of safety, but it’s made the game just a little bit less interesting knowing that the chances of having a kickoff return for a touchdown is less likely of a possibility.

Those teams that have been earning their bread and butter off of special teams returns, like the Chicago Bears, have seen some moderate success, but haven’t had near the success in field position or scoring that they have had in the past.  And for teams like Chicago (with an offense that struggles with the long field), this has been damaging to their ability to score points and win games. 

So although the effects may be subtle, they are damaging to some teams.

Is there any indication that the rule might be reversed?  It’s highly unlikely at this point.  The goal of many NFL rules is to help the offense, and this rule, by forcing the offense to go longer down the field, helps create more offense which is what the fans like to see.  It might lower scoring totals slightly, but it will give the fans what they want, and that’s a lot of offense.