Kickoffs: no one else even close?

[yukon cornelius]

I didn't see another team yesterday take advantage of the new rules better than the Pats

Only one kick through the end zone, everything else high and short with excellent coverage, I really like the way they set up coverage and kicked it to one corner of the goal line (i'd like to see real game tape on it)....

coverage was excellent, i think every return was inside the 25, most or all inside the 20 even i believe, with a couple well inside the 20

all 3 facets

 

[BelichickFan]

It definitely explains why Jonathan Jones was kept. Kickoff coverage will be big this year and could be at an all time great level.

Kind of on topic, kind of off - can anyone explain the NFL's "thinking" on moving touchbacks from the 20 to the 25 ? I may be missing the obvious but by moving touchbacks from the 20 to the 25 they made touchbacks less appealing. And if you make something less appealing, it's less likely to happen. Is there some - any - logic on this rule which I thought was to encourage touchbacks for safety reasons ? It is fun that Belichick gets to help the team with great coverage while making the NFL decision makers look stupid.

 

[mikejd]

It definitely explains why Jonathan Jones was kept. Kickoff coverage will be big this year and could be at an all time great level.

Kind of on topic, kind of off - can anyone explain the NFL's "thinking" on moving touchbacks from the 20 to the 25 ? I may be missing the obvious but by moving touchbacks from the 20 to the 25 they made touchbacks less appealing. And if you make something less appealing, it's less likely to happen. Is there some - any - logic on this rule which I thought was to encourage touchbacks for safety reasons ? It is fun that Belichick gets to help the team with great coverage while making the NFL decision makers look stupid.

My theory on the touchback thing is that they thought returners would be more likely to take a knee and get 5 more yards than they would have before. I don't think they anticipated the kicking units of teams like the Pats gaming the system more to their advantage than before haha.

 

[BelichickFan]

My theory on the touchback thing is that they thought returners would be more likely to take a knee and get 5 more yards than they would have before. I don't think they anticipated the kicking units of teams like the Pats gaming the system more to their advantage than before haha.

OK, thanks, that does make sense and now I get it. What they missed is that so many kickers can kick it so far deep into the endzone. It's at least as much the kicking team's decision as the returning team's decision.

 

[RobertWeathers]

BB is so freaking funny.

The league changes the kickoff rules so there are more touchbacks. Instead of conforming to the rule, BB instructs Gost to kick it short enough so there is a return play.

The interesting thing about it is that AZ's average starting point on drives in which they did not procure a TO was the 20.

 

[patchick]

It definitely explains why Jonathan Jones was kept. Kickoff coverage will be big this year and could be at an all time great level.

Yep, kickoff coverage matters again, making the Pats' focus on ST guys especially strategic this year.

As for J. Jones, he'll have a long NFL career even if he never lines up on defense (though I'm optimistic there, too). He looks like a genuinely special special teamer.

 

[ausbacker]

It definitely explains why Jonathan Jones was kept. Kickoff coverage will be big this year and could be at an all time great level.

Kind of on topic, kind of off - can anyone explain the NFL's "thinking" on moving touchbacks from the 20 to the 25 ? I may be missing the obvious but by moving touchbacks from the 20 to the 25 they made touchbacks less appealing. And if you make something less appealing, it's less likely to happen. Is there some - any - logic on this rule which I thought was to encourage touchbacks for safety reasons ? It is fun that Belichick gets to help the team with great coverage while making the NFL decision makers look stupid.

Let me point something out to you. Anything attached to NFL administration is solely populated by idiots. /endthread

 

[mikejd]

OK, thanks, that does make sense and now I get it. What they missed is that so many kickers can kick it so far deep into the endzone. It's at least as much the kicking team's decision as the returning team's decision.

yeah, traditionally kickers just blasted kickoffs as far as they could. Touchbacks were seen as like a badge of honor, and good because you aren't asking your ST unit to cover it where a mistake could happen.. Now, like you said, most NFL caliber kickers can put it in the endzone with regularity. So I think the NFL thought, hey, they're putting all these kicks in the endzone, let's have fewer returns. Give the returning team a free 5 yards. What they didn't take into account was a well coached team with a good kicker taking a little sauce off the kick and covering like a boss. A little riskier (NFL coaches are very risk averse) but works great if you can execute.

 

[yukon cornelius]

BB is so freaking funny.

The league changes the kickoff rules so there are more touchbacks. Instead of conforming to the rule, BB instructs Gost to kick it short enough so there is a return play.

The interesting thing about it is that AZ's average starting point on drives in which they did not procure a TO was the 20.

any idea on their average starting point following a kickoff?

 

[Ivan]

I didn't see another team yesterday take advantage of the new rules better than the Pats

Only one kick through the end zone, everything else high and short with excellent coverage, I really like the way they set up coverage and kicked it to one corner of the goal line (i'd like to see real game tape on it)....

coverage was excellent, i think every return was inside the 25, most or all inside the 20 even i believe, with a couple well inside the 20

all 3 facets

Agree completely, their ST units were great last night.

 

[yukon cornelius]

I really want to see tape on their coverage from pre-kick to tackle on those short kicks to the extreme corner goal line......from what i saw pre-kick they were really forcing the coverage onto that corner

 

[RobertWeathers]

any idea on their average starting point following a kickoff?

League -wide? No.

Including kickoffs but not including field position following a NEP turnover, the Cards average starting point was their 20. I included punts as well.

 

[WazzuWheatfarmer]

Great observation. Yes, the pop-up-kicks into the corner were very effective. It helps to have an elite kicker in Ghost who can execute that type of kick, because I'm sure it isn't as easy as it looks. The coverage did look good. Let's hope that continues. Jonathan Jones will prove to be a valuable asset to this team, I think. That type of speed is rare.

 

[yukon cornelius]

League -wide? No.

Including kickoffs but not including field position following a NEP turnover, the Cards average starting point was their 20. I included punts as well.

no, i meant just last night.....i am guessing after kickoffs it was more like the 18 or so......they had one touchback, but everything else after kickoff seemed to be inside the 20

 

[RobertWeathers]

no, i meant just last night.....i am guessing after kickoffs it was more like the 18 or so......they had one touchback, but everything else after kickoff seemed to be inside the 20

I came up with the ave start # w/o the starts from the turnovers here.

New England Patriots at Arizona Cardinals - September 11th, 2016 | Pro-Football-Reference.com

 

[RelocatedPatFan]

My theory on the touchback thing is that they thought returners would be more likely to take a knee and get 5 more yards than they would have before. I don't think they anticipated the kicking units of teams like the Pats gaming the system more to their advantage than before haha.

Short sighted then. To put a system in place, you have to think worst-case, how would someone exploit it.

The NFL is again wanting there to be more contact on one of the most dangerous plays (per media chants). Having 5 fewer yards of full-steam contact isn't likely to make the impact any less kinetic.

 

[slam]

Speaking of special teams rules, the extra point rule wreaked havoc around the league yesterday. Multiple close games had a missed extra point as a factor. It hurt us in the AFCC last year, but it's a good rule to have the extra points actually matter.

They're going to have to totally change the kickoff rule next year because they totally miscalculated this one.

 

[yukon cornelius]

I came up with the ave start # w/o the starts from the turnovers here.

New England Patriots at Arizona Cardinals - September 11th, 2016 | Pro-Football-Reference.com

looking like the 19 more or less on kickoffs

 

[BobDigital]

I think the main reason they did it was to encourage more scoring. Those free 5 yards will probably produce an average of 1-2 more PPG. No instead of 50 yards for a good FG chance you need only 45. Instead of 80 for a TD you need 75. Now that might not matter much in one game but in a whole season with 32 teams it will add up to overall more points.

The thing is this could have the opposite effect of kicker off at the 35 yards line rule cause now there will be more attempted to make teams return the ball and instead of more safe you will make the game less safe.

 

[patchick]

They're going to have to totally change the kickoff rule next year because they totally miscalculated this one.

No question, the new rule does the opposite of what was intended...IF you have total confidence in your kicker and coverage unit. It will be interesting to see as the season goes on how many teams do.