League approves new kickoff rule: FC inside 25 puts ball at 25

[All3Phases]

Damn poor Chris Board

 

[Pape]

For one, Connelly's KR was fielded just outside the 25, so this new rule wouldn't apply.

For the other two, which of those dynamic returners do you think would have fair caught the ball if they'd had the option? It's not an automatic FC. Both of those players would still have returned those kicks even with this rule, unless I'm missing something.

for one thing, way to miss the point, and another Al Michaels calls it at the 25

and Yes - 90% of those kick returns will now be touch backs... thats the freaking problem with the rule.

 

[Sicilian]

for one thing, way to miss the point, and another Al Michaels calls it at the 25

and Yes - 90% of those kick returns will now be touch backs... thats the freaking problem with the rule.

Why? Why would a good returner take a fair catch when they could run for more? You say I missed the point, then explain it to me. What GOOD kick returner is going to pass up an opportunity at a return in favor of a fair catch that starts them at the 25?

 

[Pape]

Why? Why would a good returner take a fair catch when they could run for more? You say I missed the point, then explain it to me. What GOOD kick returner is going to pass up an opportunity at a return in favor of a fair catch that starts them at the 25?

why? How many Kick 6's are there? How many great returns are there in any given season? Not a lot.

You are now guaranteed the furthest distance you have to go is 75 yards on any kickoff... Of course coaches are going to take advantage of that...

 

[Sicilian]

why? How many Kick 6's are there? How many great returns are there in any given season? Not a lot.

You are now guaranteed the furthest distance you have to go is 75 yards on any kickoff... Of course coaches are going to take advantage of that...

No competent coach is going to tell Marcus Jones or a prime Cordarelle Patterson to fair catch it at the 5 because "Eh, the 25 is good enough". Hell, most of them let them return it from 5 yards DEEP in the end zone, even though the touchback opportunity is there.

 

[Pape]

No competent coach is going to tell Marcus Jones or a prime Cordarelle Patterson to fair catch it at the 5 because "Eh, the 25 is good enough". Hell, most of them let them return it from 5 yards DEEP in the end zone, even though the touchback opportunity is there.

They will. They have always taken the conservative approach. They did it the last time the kick off rules were changed. They will do it now.

There is a reason why the NFL is doing this. Its going to remove the majority of kickoff returns. They know this how? Because they watched what happened when the changed the wedge rules. They watched what happened when the touch back went from the 20 to the 25. They watched what happened when they moved the Line of Restraint to the 35. Each time the percentage of touch backs increased accordingly.

They want more touchbacks. They will get more touchbacks.

 

[Sicilian]

They will. They have always taken the conservative approach. They did it the last time the kick off rules were changed. They will do it now.

There is a reason why the NFL is doing this. Its going to remove the majority of kickoff returns. They know this how? Because they watched what happened when the changed the wedge rules. the watched what happened when the touch back went from the 20 to the 25. They watched what happened when they moved the Line of Restraint to the 35.

They want more touchbacks. They will get more touchbacks.

They'll get more touchbacks from players there were unlikely to do anything exciting with the play anyway. The vast majority of kick returns (the ones that ARE actually returned) turn into a big fat nothing-burger. If the kick returner is any good, they'll still be returning kicks. Where do you get that coaches are always going conservative? More teams than ever are going for it on 4th down more often now. Teams are going for two to go for the win in regulation when a PAT would tie. Pete Carroll (a defensive minded coach) threw it on 4th down before the half in super bowl 49 even though there was a chance that resulted in losing a FG opportunity. Coaches will let there good returners return kicks because it's a huge momentum swing, and while the LEAGUE might be thinking of eliminating the kickoff, coaches want to win games. Until the kick is abolished altogether, coaches will continue to do what they think gives them a chance at a big play.

 

[Joker]

They will. They have always taken the conservative approach. They did it the last time the kick off rules were changed. They will do it now.

There is a reason why the NFL is doing this. Its going to remove the majority of kickoff returns. They know this how? Because they watched what happened when the changed the wedge rules. They watched what happened when the touch back went from the 20 to the 25. They watched what happened when they moved the Line of Restraint to the 35. Each time the percentage of touch backs increased accordingly.

They want more touchbacks. They will get more touchbacks.

I don't get it...YOU think this is a good rule change? Newsflash...I don't care how little the TD's on runbacks are in a season...it's an EXCITING event when it happens and one that is shown on all the network NFL shows the rest of the week. I do not want some pablum puking baby rules taking THIS possibility away from my viewing pleasure. The way you're talking we'll be watching vurtual NFL games powered by AI with no actual human players in the near future

 

[Pape]

They'll get more touchbacks from players there were unlikely to do anything exciting with the play anyway. The vast majority of kick returns (the ones that ARE actually returned) turn into a big fat nothing-burger. If the kick returner is any good, they'll still be returning kicks. Where do you get that coaches are always going conservative? More teams than ever are going for it on 4th down more often now. Teams are going for two to go for the win in regulation when a PAT would tie. Pete Carroll (a defensive minded coach) threw it on 4th down before the half in super bowl 49 even though there was a chance that resulted in losing a FG opportunity. Coaches will let there good returners return kicks because it's a huge momentum swing, and while the LEAGUE might be thinking of eliminating the kickoff, coaches want to win games. Until the kick is abolished altogether, coaches will continue to do what they think gives them a chance at a big play.

it has happened before. It will happen again.

and they are trying to get rid of the kickoff.

and where am I getting the information? I am extrapolating the info from two studies that tracked the impact of the 2018 & 2020 kickoff rule changes... PFF & a site called commute sports

 

[patfanken]

Dan Connolly explains it best...


Corderelle Paterson also has a few poignant words of wisdom...


and Marcus Jones offered just a few thoughts on the matter last season...

Those are 3 examples of the most exciting plays in a football game. AND the assholes on Park ave have busted their asses to take it away from the fans. If they are going to do this, just put the damned ball on the 25 after each FG or extra point and be done with it.

You now have ask for permission before you hit the damned QB. It's ridiculous. I'll still watch Pats games, because I am a fan and still like seeing an occasional football game, but I no longer can be bothered to watch ANY other games. I just end up getting pissed most of the times and I don't need the extra aggravation. Whenever possible I make a point of NOT buy and products advertised by the NFL.

IF they can make an old die hard like me think about turning it all off, what's going to happen to more casual fans.

 

[Pape]

Those are 3 examples of the most exciting plays in a football game. AND the assholes on Park ave have busted their asses to take it away from the fans. If they are going to do this, just put the damned ball on the 25 after each FG or extra point and be done with it.

You now have ask for permission before you hit the damned QB. It's ridiculous. I'll still watch Pats games, because I am a fan and still like seeing an occasional football game, but I no longer can be bothered to watch ANY other games. I just end up getting pissed most of the times and I don't need the extra aggravation. Whenever possible I make a point of NOT buy and products advertised by the NFL.

IF they can make an old die hard like me think about turning it all off, what's going to happen to more casual fans.

They dont care about you or me... they want the younger fans... the kind that want to oooh and ahhh at patrick mahomes type qbs that are only succeeding because they have effectively neutered defensive football...

 

[Sicilian]

Those are 3 examples of the most exciting plays in a football game. AND the assholes on Park ave have busted their asses to take it away from the fans. If they are going to do this, just put the damned ball on the 25 after each FG or extra point and be done with it.

You now have ask for permission before you hit the damned QB. It's ridiculous. I'll still watch Pats games, because I am a fan and still like seeing an occasional football game, but I no longer can be bothered to watch ANY other games. I just end up getting pissed most of the times and I don't need the extra aggravation. Whenever possible I make a point of NOT buy and products advertised by the NFL.

IF they can make an old die hard like me think about turning it all off, what's going to happen to more casual fans.

And all three of them still happen with this new rule.

Look, they may end up eliminating the kickoff wholesale, and that will be a damn shame. But this rule isn't doing it. NONE of those returners are fair catching those balls. Cordarelle freaking Patterson is NOT fair catching a ball at the 5. Dan Connelly isn't fair catching a ball at the 25 when he could (at the VERY least) fall forward and end up at the 30.

 

[Pape]

And all three of them still happen with this new rule.

Look, they may end up eliminating the kickoff wholesale, and that will be a damn shame. But this rule isn't doing it. NONE of those returners are fair catching those balls. Cordarelle freaking Patterson is NOT fair catching a ball at the 5. Dan Connelly isn't fair catching a ball at the 25 when he could (at the VERY least) fall forward and end up at the 30.

and if their coaches tell them to fair catch a ball caught in shadow of the endzone? They will call a fair catch.

 

[Sicilian]

and if their coaches tell them to fair catch a ball caught in shadow of the endzone? They will call a fair catch.

The same number of coaches who tell these good KR's to kneel when they're a yard in the end zone will tell them to fair catch at the 5. In other words, none of them.

 

[Pape]

The same number of coaches who tell these good KR's to kneel when they're a yard in the end zone will tell them to fair catch at the 5. In other words, none of them.

Keep telling yourself its true doesn't actually make it true... just sayin...

Its happened every time they tweak the kick off rules... Now instead of teams having to run a short kick back, they have the option to gain yardage automatically... with a zero chance of a turn over

The shorter you have to go, the more likely you will score... football has ceased being a 100 yard game, and is now a 75 yard game

 

[Sicilian]

Keep telling yourself its true doesn't actually make it true... just sayin...

Its happened every time they tweak the kick off rules... Now instead of teams having to run a short kick back, they have the option to gain yardage automatically... with a zero chance of a turn over

The shorter you have to go, the more likely you will score... football has ceased being a 100 yard game, and is now a 75 yard game

IMO, you are vastly overestimating the difference between starting at the 25 and the average starting field position for an NFL kickoff (non-touchback). Almost every kickoff in the NFL that gets returned ends up somewhere between the 20 and the 30 yard line. Every once in a while they get stopped at like the 17. We'll see what happens, but I just don't envision a coach saying, "Yeah, we could break one for a big gain with this electric kick returner, but if we fair catch it we'll get like 4 more yards automatically so let's do that." But I can see we're just not going to see this the same way. Time will tell, and like I said above, if they do end up removing the kick entirely it will be a shame. I just don't think this particular rule is going to change much, other than on those high, angled kicks to guys who were probably going to get stopped at the 27 yards line at best anyway. The best will still be returning kicks.

 

[UrbanCowboy]

I'm having a hard time being outraged about this. No disrespect meant to anyone who is, but I really don't care much about kickoffs, and I don't think this rule (on it's own) is going to change much at all. Most teams want their KR to return the kick if it's not in the end zone, so I doubt we see many of these fair catches. The only time this is going to come up is if the kick is high and the other team's return guy isn't likely to break one anyway.

It's not outrage about this one thing. It's the death by a thousand cuts. There will still be some kickoff returns, but each rule tweak makes it more rare. Now we have more fair catches... yay!

 

[jlu52]

thousand

It's not outrage about this one thing. It's the death by a thousand cuts. There will still be some kickoff returns, but each rule tweak makes it more rare. Now we have more fair catches... yay!

Today's game barely resembles the game I grew up watching, and not for the better, imo. A thousand cuts, indeed.

 

[PatsFanInVa]

They'll get more touchbacks from players there were unlikely to do anything exciting with the play anyway. The vast majority of kick returns (the ones that ARE actually returned) turn into a big fat nothing-burger. If the kick returner is any good, they'll still be returning kicks. Where do you get that coaches are always going conservative? More teams than ever are going for it on 4th down more often now. Teams are going for two to go for the win in regulation when a PAT would tie. Pete Carroll (a defensive minded coach) threw it on 4th down before the half in super bowl 49 even though there was a chance that resulted in losing a FG opportunity. Coaches will let there good returners return kicks because it's a huge momentum swing, and while the LEAGUE might be thinking of eliminating the kickoff, coaches want to win games. Until the kick is abolished altogether, coaches will continue to do what they think gives them a chance at a big play.

Bingo. It's not much more than an equalizer. So yes, if you have guys that can catch the ball... pretty low bar... you get the 25 for free. If you put on your big boy pants and get an actual returner, ta da, you play some odds in terms of fair catching, but if he sees a lane you still trust his vision.

 

[Joker]

anybody that thinks this is a good thing for NFL football is BLIND to the trend set by Goodell the last decade to mutate our once great game, a game played by PHYSICAL MEN, men with tremendous skills on both sides of the ball. You people just don't see it coming...within a few seasons there will be a LBGTQ+ all woman/trans referee crew that will work an NFL game ...and stop it at haltime because they find the "heirarchy!!!" abhorrent to their fragile social justice warrior sensibilities...and Goodell will respond by declaring the league co-ed.