What’s with all the touchbacks?

[aluminum seats]

Seems like most teams are content to blast it into the end zone and give up the 30 yard line starting position

The 30 is a pretty good spot to start a drive, not quite sure why teams are conceding that

 

[1960Pats]

My guess is they're afraid of runbacks and they think it's an advantage for the receiving team.

 

[Ring 6]

It’s pretty hard to stop any return inside the 25 now, so there is very little to gain by allowing a return.
There are fewer penalities on the return team this way.
It’s hard to aim the ball to the 1 yard line and not have it go into the end zone

 

[Nikolai]

Most the salient reasons have already been stated...

The (should be) expected consequences of tinkering with a good thing

Fans to ****dell and the owners:
"We had a good thing going you son of a *****, but you just had to blow it up. You and your pride and your ego."

 

[Force Zero Boomer]

Dynamic kickoff my ass. Remember how exciting kickoffs were when Desmond Howard was in his prime? Every one was electric.

It's a zero play now and just lengthens the game with no potential excitement. In-season rule change: just place the ball at the 25.

 

[signbabybrady]

I heard a stat after week 1 that returns were up %8.

I don't know if that still holds true and I think they probably wanted more than that too.

Bottom line is touchbacks were the norm already. This seems to have potential it just needs some tweaks next off-season. If after a few years it doesn't work they can go back, try something else, or eliminate it altogether.

 

[TheRainMaker]

Roger continuing to ruin the game I grew up watching.

 

[ViperGTS]

Not Roger. The fans, the pink hats that clutch their pearls with every little hit. The biggest issue a society ever has is listening to the minority over things that have nothing to do with them. That goes for all things.

 

[BennyBledsoe]

The game is constantly changing. It's always going to be moving towards things that try to make things more exciting for the viewer. If it hadn't, the forward pass would never have existed. Goalposts would still be in the field of play. And so on, ad infinitum.

 

[lancerman]

Seems like most teams are content to blast it into the end zone and give up the 30 yard line starting position

The 30 is a pretty good spot to start a drive, not quite sure why teams are conceding that

The new rules almost guarantee the returner can at least make the 20-25 consistently. You are basically conceding 5ish yards to avoid a moderately good run getting them to mid field.

 

[lancerman]

Dynamic kickoff my ass. Remember how exciting kickoffs were when Desmond Howard was in his prime? Every one was electric.

It's a zero play now and just lengthens the game with no potential excitement. In-season rule change: just place the ball at the 25.

We are never getting the old kickoffs back unless the league just stops giving a **** about trying to attempt safety.

 

[TinhWoodhead]

Roger continuing to ruin the game I grew up watching.

roger that

 

[captain stone]

We are never getting the old kickoffs back unless the league just stops giving a **** about trying to attempt safety.

But that’s the problem: the league’s attempt at increasing safety is, in this case, misplaced.

I would never, Ever concede the 30 to my opponent unless it’s like the last play of the game or something.

 

[Force Zero Boomer]

But that’s the problem: the league’s attempt at increasing safety is, in this case, misplaced.

I would never, Ever concede the 30 to my opponent unless it’s like the last play of the game or something.

I bet you would if the returner was a Desmond Howard clone.

 

[XLIX]

Most the salient reasons have already been stated...

The (should be) expected consequences of tinkering with a good thing

Fans to ****dell and the owners:
"We had a good thing going you son of a *****, but you just had to blow it up. You and your pride and your ego."

To take the old kickoff format and say "we had a good thing going" is kinda not accurate. It was nothing but an endless string of touchbacks - hence the rule change (which doesn't seem to be working).

Let us not act as though kickoffs last year was edge-of-your-seat excitement. It was just as boring as this year's kickoffs.

 

[XLIX]

Dynamic kickoff my ass. Remember how exciting kickoffs were when Desmond Howard was in his prime? Every one was electric.

Yes that was almost 30 years ago. Since then, we've discovered a little thing called CTE.

I swear.... people complain that the League doesn't care about their own players, then when the League does something to make the game safer, people complain about that too....

 

[Real fan 02]

Seems like most teams are content to blast it into the end zone and give up the 30 yard line starting position

The 30 is a pretty good spot to start a drive, not quite sure why teams are conceding that

It would be hard pressed for Jacoby to get us to the 50 from the 30.

 

[DaBruinz]

Seems like most teams are content to blast it into the end zone and give up the 30 yard line starting position

The 30 is a pretty good spot to start a drive, not quite sure why teams are conceding that

It's what the league wants to "prevent injuries" to players.

 

[Nikolai]

To take the old kickoff format and say "we had a good thing going" is kinda not accurate. It was nothing but an endless string of touchbacks - hence the rule change (which doesn't seem to be working).

Let us not act as though kickoffs last year was edge-of-your-seat excitement. It was just as boring as this year's kickoffs.

I'd counter that, while it wasn't edge-of-your-seat excitement, day in and day out, you could count on seeing guys like Devin Hester, Dante Hall, or Josh Cribbs providing some exciting moments.

Of the 30 players all-time who have score 4+ TDs on kickoff returns, 17 of them played in the 2000s, and 10 of those into the 2010s. There's a really sharp drop off in outstanding KO return talent after 2016. The all-time leader, Cordarelle Patterson scored five of his nine during and prior to the 2016 season.

What's wild is that, prior to this sentence, I hadn't researched exactly when the kickoff rules were being tampered with, but as it turns out, 2016 was the year that the touchback line was moved to the 25.

From 1994 to 2010 (the year prior to moving the kickoff to the 35 yard line), there was never less an 87 yard per game average for kickoff returns. Since then, the highest average is from 2013 (64.2 yards a game). Since 2016, the highest is 44.9 yards a game. That's about half the return yards as prior to the tampering.

Seasonal kickoff TD return leaders from 1994-2010 had at least two touchdowns in a given season. Since 2016, only two players have surpassed more than 1 in a season.

People may not have like them for whatever reason, but statistically, kickoffs were more exciting before.

 

[SlowGettingUp]

The original plan was that a touchback would yield the 35 yard line. That got changed at the last minute after some teams whined. Next year that's likely to be the outcome, and we'll get many more returns.