New Kickoff Rule

[poptart]

In the name of enhanced safety, the kickoff now takes place from the 35 instead of the 30.

Some discussion about it: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.c ... 1KOL7V.DTL

73.6% of kickoffs made it to the endzone in preseason week #1.
Interesting.

Of course that is not the touchback pct.


S. Janikowski was up at 35% touchbacks last season - one of the best numbers in the league.
I guess we might expect him to get up over 50% this year, conservatively.
I LIKE - a LOT.

On the other hand, Oakland now has a legit kick return threat in Jacoby Ford, and this will surely give him less touches.


Isn't this rule change going to lower scoring?
Seems this goes against all that the league has tried to do over the past few decades.
The NFL has blatantly tried to make the game into a semi-arena league ball with rules enhancing an open passing game.

Now they're slowing it down by taking field position opportunities away from the offense.

I'm actually pretty much okay with that.


What do you folks think about it?

[Goober McTuber]

I believe this was done to decrease the number of injuries. Further pussification of the NFL.

[indyfrisco]

Sitting on the 9th row for the Colts games around the 35-40 yard line, many of the kickoff collisions occur right in front of us. The TV broadcast of the hits do not do them justice. Honestly, I don't see how these guys get up after the collisions that occur on kickoffs. It's fucking BRUTAL!

That being said, I love kickoffs. One of the most exciting plays in the game. This is just one more step closer to making the NFL the NFFL (National Flag Football League).

[Shoalzie]

I'm a fan of both football and hockey and they've both been recently making tweaks to their game to basically protect the players from themselves and each other. Moreso with the NFL, I see them do it more to cover their collective asses. They don't want this generation of players to take years off their life for a game where the lifespan of playing career that seems to get smaller by the year. With the past players starting to raise a stink over the longterm effects of playing football...Goodell clearly doesn't want to deal with more lawsuits and litigation down the line because they turn out another generation of drooling vegetables that can't walk past the age of 40. The athletes today are in better condition than ever before but that also makes them more efficient wrecking machines.

The game would be better without the restrictor plates being placed on the fast and the furocious and for the magic bubble around every QB to disappear but they think they're doing what's best for the players. To me, a lot of these injuries are more of breakdown of technique as much as it is a breakdown of players being aware of their surroundings and of each other. I'm tired of watching guys not being able to wrap a player up and instead launch themselves at the ball-carrier to "blow them up". The big hits gets more air play than a form tackle but those don't ultimately win games. Learn how to tackle...it's as simple as that.

[Bucmonkey]

In the name of enhanced safety, the kickoff now takes place from the 35 instead of the 30.

Some discussion about it: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.c ... 1KOL7V.DTL

73.6% of kickoffs made it to the endzone in preseason week #1.
Interesting.

Of course that is not the touchback pct.

That % will go up if what the talking heads are saying is true. Apparrently the special teams coaches are telling the kickers to intentionally shorten some of their kickoffs in order to practice coverage. Once the regular season hits they will be kicking for the goal posts.

Piss poor rule, though I understand the reasoning. They are still taking away one of the more exciting aspects of the game which will also penalize the teams with superb returners.

And to bring up piss poor rule changes, the automatic review of every damn TD will turn out to be a disaster. It is already getting old in preseason, should have left the damn review process as is.

[mvscal]

In the name of enhanced safety, the kickoff now takes place from the 35 instead of the 30.

If enhanced safety is truly a concern, they need to get rid of the shoulder pads and go back to leather helmets.

[poptart]

And to bring up piss poor rule changes, the automatic review of every damn TD will turn out to be a disaster. It is already getting old in preseason.

I agree.



I'm not sure about losing the shoulder pads, mvscal, but I do agree with you on the leather helmet take.

[mvscal]

I'm not sure about losing the shoulder pads, mvscal, but I do agree with you on the leather helmet take.

Yep. Shoulders pads, too. That'll keep their feet on the ground.

[Joe in PB]

The NFL changing rules every year was old a few years ago, now its an annoyance. Every TD reviewed? Talk about taking the excitement out of the game, I'm not sure they could have done anything else that would kill the excitement of a score better than this crap. Move the kickoff back, now move it forward......zzzzzzzzzz.

The NFL would benefit from understanding how MMA has now become more popular than boxing. The public likes big hits, knock outs and ass kickings, not so much Olympic boxing, top fighters who enter the ring once a year, or touch football. Somebody is going to come up with a football league that is about eliminating pussified rules for big hits & scoring, and that league will never look back, much like the MMA.

[poptart]

Bill Belichump sez the league should stop playing games and just place the ball on the 20 yd line if that's what they want.

http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/blog/shutdo ... nfl-wp5693

I understand his point and think it would have merit if kickoffs were now going to result in touchbacks ---> approaching 100% of the time.
Or at least 80-90% of the time.

If that were the case, yeah, just put the ball at the 20 or 25, or whatever.

Just my rough estimate from looking at kickoff stats from last season tells me that touchbacks occurred about 15-20% of the time.
So what will that number go to now?
40% maybe?
Some of the really good return men are still going to be trying to bring the ball out from 7-9 yds deep in the end zone, imo.

So what the league is doing is nothing to 'cure' the dangerous play (the kickoff), but they are dialing down the number of times the dangerous play will take place.


Belichump is right about the extra point.
It's gay.
It's as useless as Felix' dick.

I liked when the league brought the 2 pt conversion into the game because it added a new dynamic.
A little spice.

Either...

1) Do away with the fruity extra point. Just award 6 (or 7) points for a TD.
2) Only have two point conversion attempts (or make them one point attempts) from the 2 yd line.
3) Have one point conversion attempts take place by kick - with the ball being placed on the 20 yd line (37 yd kick).


There ya go, slapnuts.

Think today, for a change.

[Joe in PB]

Or they can go back to the same rules used 10-15 years ago.

How many times is an extra point missed? Not all that often, but it does happen, especially in inclement weather. The 2 point conversion goes hand in hand with the kicked extra point too, making up for any misses & breaking ties. It's called maintaining suspense, and minimizing games that might be decided sooner.

Setting up a wedge with more than two players for a kick return became a penalty last year, now lets just kick the ball into the end zone anyway. Does anyone who votes on these new rules actually watch the games and understand the impact these changes make? ZZzzzzzZZZzzzzzzzzzz........doubtful.

Passes that left WR's hung out to dry in the past were blamed on the QB, now its called hitting a defenseless player. Ronnie Lott would no longer be a HoFer, but instead would be lauded as a dirty player who deliberately tried to hurt the opposition. Under today's rules Lott would be neutered, too slow for coverage he would have a shortened career and be just another guy grabbing at shirt tails.

My guess is for every new NFL fan, there is a guy 50+ years old who no longer has the burning passion for the game he once did. A guy who might just as well do something else on Sunday afternoons besides watching the NFL. A guy who 10 years before would never have imagined doing anything else on Sunday afternoons, but now with a league whose #1 goal is to make as much bank as possible, no matter the impact, player douchbaggieness, and a rules committee that feels the need to make changes every year like the latest version of EA Sports Madden Football, its not only easy to find something else do, but much less irritating.

[poptart]

The college football product is definitely better... if you choose to overlook the reality that the whole "intercollegiate athletics" thing is a fraud.


Review on every TD scored?

bwaaa...


Nice fucking going, NFL.

[Goober McTuber]

The college football product is definitely better...

And their forum is much more intelligent, don't you think?

[poptart]

I very seldom read that forum.

D-1 college football is a total joke.

Anyone following such nonsense as that has carved half their brain out in order to do so.
So no, I wouldn't say that anyone there is as smart as I am.


:wink:

[Truman]

The new kickoff rule has rendered the return game impotent. Kinda hard to initiate game-changing momentum swings from seven yards deep in your own endzone. The rule also requires the kicking team's gunners to line up within five yards of the ball. Might as well line up the cheerleaders out there. 'Least one of them might lose a halter in the ensuing sprint downfield...

Belichick's suggestion to eliminate this farce and simply place the ball at the 20 or 25 makes sense, but I wouldn't look for something like that to happen any time soon - it would eliminate about half-a-dozen of those all-important 2-minute TV timeout opportunities we're subjected to each weekend.

Kinda like Bill's thoughts on the conversion, though. Miss a PAT from the 20, and all-of-a-sudden that 2-point attempt from the 3 starts to look pretty good. And hell, everybody likes that play. I'm thinking we'll see more coaches roll the dice in weather, or when his kicker starts going all-Jason Elam on him for no explicable reason. Just my $0.02 worth.

[MgoBlue-LightSpecial]

This new rule is fucking atrocious. I want to see returns. Either go back to the original rule, or just spot the ball at the 20 and be done with it. Stop wasting everybody's time with these deep end zone kickoffs.

[poptart]

Two weeks in, Oakland hasn't had to defend a kickoff return yet.


:grin:

[Atomic Punk]

That's because they are afraid if they get loose, Janikowski will tackle them and he will cream his shorts while in the process of tackling them. Nobody wants to see that.

[poptart]

cream his shorts while in the process of tackling them

Sounds perfectly normal.


- KC



viewtopic.php?f=3&t=36460&p=695587&hili ... rd#p695587

:)

[poptart]

ClaytonESPN John Clayton
After two weeks, 163 of 329 kickoffs went for touchbacks. Only 48.3 percent of kickoffs are being returned. That compares to 75.2 last year.



I feel your pain, Mgo, but almost 50% of kickoffs are still being returned.