New Kickoff Rule

[shopson67]

Apparently if the ball is kicked into the endzone the offense gets the ball on the 35 yard line! WTF!? If it rolls into the endzone then you start at the 20 yard line. What a bunch of goofy shit... apparently this is what XFL does.

So some further details on this ass approach:

1) Kicker has to kick the ball in the 'landing zone' which is within the <= to the 20 yard line but > end zone. If so, the ball must be returned.
2) The ball could also bounce into the end zone in the landing zone, if that happens, the offense starts on the 20 yard line (if downed).
3) If the ball is kicked into the endzone period the opposing team starts on the 35 (some site said kicked into the endzone, and stay in bounds, but downed? That makes no sense).
4) If you kick SHORT of the 'landing zone' or kick out of bounds, team starts on the 40...


This is going to make returners and kickers now VERRRRY valuable. Because every kicker is going to be told to not kick it in the endzone but also don't kick it short of the 20 yard line (and the ones that keep fuckin' that up will be promptly fired).... so since kickers will ALL be told, "Kick it as close as possible to the goal line" and returners are all going to be told, "Don't let it land and roll into the endzone for Christ sake"... this will be really interesting.

Pittsburgh already acquired Patterson who is fairly useless these days as a WR/RB, but he's still a good returner....

I imagine kick return specialists and kickers are THRILLED with this... because if a kicker is able to routinely kick it inside the 5 yard line and roll the ball forward, he'd be a HUGE value... either it has to be returned or the offense gets the ball at the 20 yard line... that'd be HUGE.

Oh, and apparently now onside kicks can only be done in the 4th quarter ONLY if a team is trailing... don't understand the stupidity of that. Maybe that's a giant F you middle finger to Sean Payton who appears to have pissed everyone off.

It will be interesting to see. With a standard kickoff, you can take advantage of the running momentum of the coverage team to find seams. This is more like someone deep behind the line of scrimmage trying to run against a stacked front. I imagine the defense will space itself better than the sample image provided, as they will need 2 deep safeties to avoid a broken tackle going the distance.

 

[Lake Shore Drive]

In one sense this new kickoff rule seems a bit gimmicky, but then again it can't possibly be any more boring than the previous rule. Might even add a refreshing and exciting element to the game. Looking forward to seeing it in action.

 

[Sharkonabicycle]

In one sense this new kickoff rule seems a bit gimmicky, but then again it can't possibly be any more boring than the previous rule. Might even add a refreshing and exciting element to the game. Looking forward to seeing it in action.

Agreed, and I expect a full decapitation by October...

 

[Sharkonabicycle]

It will be interesting to see. With a standard kickoff, you can take advantage of the running momentum of the coverage team to find seams. This is more like someone deep behind the line of scrimmage trying to run against a stacked front. I imagine the defense will space itself better than the sample image provided, as they will need 2 deep safeties to avoid a broken tackle going the distance.

It's kind of funny these guys think this is going to completely stop injuries. NFL players get up to speed so fast these days... and with proposed rules kickers are going to do everything in their power (for the livelihood of their job) to not be kicking into the endzone while kick returners will do everything in their power to never take a touchback.

I find the whole thing quite amusing in that the NFL screams about safety non-stop but this is doing absolutely ZERO to promote safety. The model almost assumes a kickoff return will happen on EVERY instance of it... and you also know this is going to be a giant officiating fiasco lol... the refs now have to watch 20 other players (only the returners can move) and also the 2 returners as to when the ball is received. I'm going to die laughing when some kick returner fakes catching the ball and starts running (which they are allowed to do, they are the only ones that can move) causing a 'false start' by the kicking team.

Also, kicking penalties are pretty substantial now. If you get like a personal foul after the XP and it gets assessed on the kickoff, if you don't land it within the 20 yard line, 40 yard field position. OR if you get 15 yards added on the kickoff... now your kicker has to adjust to make sure they can not kick TOO far and into the endzone... what a nightmare lol.

I think this is going to be a catastrophe, but whatever. Should be amusing in any event. It will 100% pay to have a good kicker for kickoffs. It will also pay to have someone as a returner like with an open field can go from 0-100% speed very quickly. Again, exactly why the Steelers got Patterson.... 2 years for $6M is probably going to be pretty common for a kick return specialist if this stands.