Changes to the kicking rule.

[Love The Drake]

#BreakingNews The NFL has approved the new kickoff rule, and it will go into effect immediately. Massive change to the game and it will closely resemble the XFL’s kickoff(video attached).

NFL owners voted in favor of it 29-3.

Here are the rules:

*Kicking Team: The 10 players cannot move until the ball hits the ground or player in the landing zone or the end zone.

*Receiving Team: All players in the setup zone cannot move until the kick has hit the ground or a player in the landing zone or the end zone.

*Any kick that hits in the Landing Zone (goal line to 20 yard line) must be returned.

*Any kick hits before the landing zone: Touchback to the 40 (as if it went out of bounds).

*Kick hits the Landing Zone, rolls into end zone and is downed: Touchback to the 20.

*Kick lands in end zone or goes out the back: Touchback to the 35.

*Onside Kick: 4th quarter begins, the team trailing has the opportunity to declare an onside kick to the officials. Current onside kickoff rules would apply.

*No fair catch or signal is allowed.

To be test run for one season to start.

 

[signbabybrady]

Interesting. Not sure if this changes the touchback rate but anything that gives us a chance to see less touchbacks and a more exciting play again is worth a try.

Bill probably already knows how to beat it......oh wait...damn.

 

[Sicilian]

*Kick hits the Landing Zone, rolls into end zone and is downed: Touchback to the 20.

This part is interesting to me, because it would seem (with only two returners in the landing zone) pretty easy for an NFL kicker to squib it in between them on a line drive that goes into the end zone. Maybe I'm underestimating how hard that would be to control. I get why it's there with the following rule about regular touchbacks going to the 35 (you don't want the same rule here, because you to incentivize guys to actually return kicks in the landing zone), but it will be interesting to see the strategies that come out of this.

 

[Lagaffe_07]

Interesting. Not sure if this changes the touchback rate but anything that gives us a chance to see less touchbacks and a more exciting play again is worth a try.

Bill probably already knows how to beat it......oh wait...damn.

It will definitely change the touchback rate. You get the ball at the 35 if you kick it in the end zone now.

I like those change. It become a football play now with the ability to really scheme things in the return games.

 

[sb1]

*Kick lands in end zone or goes out the back: Touchback to the 35.

So basically a 15 yard penalty to the kicking team compared to last season for kicking it through the end zone. Ok then

 

[SlowGettingUp]

Can only be an improvement over what we have now.

Going to increase scoring a bit I suspect - better starting position on average.

 

[Bill Lee]

 

[signbabybrady]

It will definitely change the touchback rate. You get the ball at the 35 if you kick it in the end zone now.

I like those change. It become a football play now with the ability to really scheme things in the return games.

I missed that part I definitely like it now

 

[Sicilian]

Every time this is posted, I HAVE to watch it in it's entirety.

 

[jmt57]

I'm interestd to see what happens when on the previous play there was a 15-yard unsportmanlike penalty, and the team that just scored is kicking off from the 50 rather than the 35. Also - in light of that hypothetical penalty, does a touchback come out to the 25 rather than the 40 - or does it still come out to the 40? If the latter is true, then that 15 yard penalty becomes meaningless.

 

[upstater1]

NFL owners approve massive revamp to kickoff

NFL owners approved a massive revamp of the kickoff play Tuesday, opting for a format that originated in the XFL.

www.espn.com

Touchbacks marked at the 30? Who will ever return the kick? No one.

And then there's this:

In the event a team wants to attempt an onside kick, it will have to inform officials of its intent and would then be allowed to use the NFL's traditional formation. No surprise onside kicks will be allowed.

Is there a penalty for squibbing it in the air? What if you announce your intent to do an onsides kick and then kick it long? Is there a penalty for that?

What constitutes an online kick anyway?

If the ball doesn't hit the ground in the 1st 10 yards, is it a penalty?

It seems you have to penalize teams or they'll exploit the rule.

 

[Lagaffe_07]

I'm interestd to see what happens when on the previous play there was a 15-yard unsportmanlike penalty, and the team that just scored is kicking off from the 50 rather than the 35. Also - in light of that hypothetical penalty, does a touchback come out to the 25 rather than the 40 - or does it still come out to the 40? If the latter is true, then that 15 yard penalty becomes meaningless.

What you are saying is not very clear.

If the ball land directly into the end zone the opposing team get the ball at their 35 and if the ball land in the landing zone and roll through the EZ then the opposing team gets the ball at the 20.

My guess is penalty will be handle the same as right now. The only thing that I can see is it can maybe be harder to land a kick in the landing zone from the 50 than from the 35.

 

[Sfpat]

So the NFL is becoming the XFL. Why don't they just cut to the chase and make the game two-hand touch.

 

[Sicilian]

I'm interestd to see what happens when on the previous play there was a 15-yard unsportmanlike penalty, and the team that just scored is kicking off from the 50 rather than the 35. Also - in light of that hypothetical penalty, does a touchback come out to the 25 rather than the 40 - or does it still come out to the 40? If the latter is true, then that 15 yard penalty becomes meaningless.

I think you'd just see the kicker pooch it a bit more, and the tacklers would have less distance to travel to stop the run back. I think I read once that in the opposite scenario (where the kicking team was the one penalized), that the landing zone is extended, so instead of being goal line to 20, it's goal line to 35. So they have more room to place the kick, but the returner obviously has more room before a defender can touch him, potentially.

 

[signbabybrady]

What you are saying is not very clear.

If the ball land directly into the end zone the opposing team get the ball at their 35 and if the ball land in the landing zone and roll through the EZ then the opposing team gets the ball at the 20.

My guess is penalty will be handle the same as right now

He's asking how penalties enforced on kickoffs will work.

 

[maust]

Lot of moving parts here. Players 'cannot move until the kick has hit the ground or a player in the landing zone or the end zone.' Considering how flag happy NFL officials are this has the potential to be an officiating nightmare. What's the penalty for movement going to be? Will the play be blown dead based on perceived movement? Obviously returners have to position themselves to receive the ball. Are they pre-designated, if so how many? Can the play/call be challenged? Will it be subject to automatic review at least in the first year?

 

[FortressX]

I hope this is a plus for Marcus Jones.

 

[Sicilian]

Lot of moving parts here. Players 'cannot move until the kick has hit the ground or a player in the landing zone or the end zone.' This has the potential to be an officiating nightmare. What's the penalty for movement going to be? Will the play be blown dead based on perceived movement? Obviously returners have to position themselves to receive the ball. Are they pre-designated, if so how many? Can the play/call be challenged? Will it be subject to automatic review at least in the first year?

My guess would be it's a five yard penalty at the end of the run (or a re-kick, if the opposing team thinks they can do better than the result). But we'll have to see.

 

[Gator Mike]

I'm all in favor of this.

Kickoffs have sucked for several years now. 80% of the time, it's a touchback, which is a giant waste of time.

I'm one of the few sickos that watched the XFL, and this rule was phenomenal in that league. More returns AND fewer injuries. It was nothing but a positive.

There are a bunch of XFL/UFL rules the NFL should adopt, including, but not limited to they way they do extra points, overtime, and replay.

 

[VrabelJr]

I have a feeling the average points per game is going to be 50 or 60 next season