New NFL Kickoff Rule Adopted

[George Cumby]

I'm in favor of it. Kick-offs as they are now add little to the game.

The point is to be entertained by the game. The added entropy/chaos will add value, IMO.

[Fosco33]

You can’t be sneaky.

Did the xfl have something like a new 4th/15 from your own 30 or something like that?

I bet the Lions would do that a lot.

Seems like the nfl is just going to make people announce it and only in 4th q when you’re behind.

That part of the rule seems kinda lame

[MadtownPacker]

Did the xfl have something like a new 4th/15 from your own 30 or something like that?

I bet the Lions would do that a lot.

Seems like the nfl is just going to make people announce it and only in 4th q when you’re behind.

That part of the rule seems kinda lame

I can’t remember. Just recall two players had to wrestle just to decide the first possession. Instead of coin flip right? It was crazy but at least it was geared towards more action not some safe play bs.

[MadScientist]

The punt idea was geared towards something safer than a kickoff, with the odds of going for it similar to those for an onside kickoff. The play would still be somewhat similar to a kickoff and familiar to anyone who knows football. This new play is just weird. One year should be more than enough to get rid of it.

[QBME]

I’ve kinda studied it and believe I’ve got a grasp.
Looking around the thing I can’t find is, on a declared onside kick, from where is the ball kicked?

Only other thing is the kicker will need to have a bit of free safety in him. If the returner breaks the initial scrum, the kicker is the last line of defense. Unless one of the forward players drops back??

This could actually be fun.

[Fritz]

I’ve kinda studied it and believe I’ve got a grasp.
Looking around the thing I can’t find is, on a declared onside kick, from where is the ball kicked?

Only other thing is the kicker will need to have a bit of free safety in him. If the returner breaks the initial scrum, the kicker is the last line of defense. Unless one of the forward players drops back??

This could actually be fun.

The kicker as a tackler?

Hmm. That sounds dangerous. Kickers are not used to tackling. We'll have to add subsection 3-0012 to rule 442A, declaring that, in the event the returner breaks past the first line of defense post-thirty-five yard line, he can only advance the ball at a forty-five degree angle when the kicker approaches to make the tackle. Stiff-arming by the returner is illegal, and once the kicker touches, with both hands, simultaneously, the area between the returner's shoulders and knees, the returner is declared down and the play dead.

[sharpe1027]

The kicker as a tackler?

Hmm. That sounds dangerous. Kickers are not used to tackling. We'll have to add subsection 3-0012 to rule 442A, declaring that, in the event the returner breaks past the first line of defense post-thirty-five yard line, he can only advance the ball at a forty-five degree angle when the kicker approaches to make the tackle. Stiff-arming by the returner is illegal, and once the kicker touches, with both hands, simultaneously, the area between the returner's shoulders and knees, the returner is declared down and the play dead.

Unnecessary protection. Kickers aren't people.

[ThunderDan]

Well, I was flipping the channels today and a UFL game was on. One team was on the 8 and about to score, so I thought I would watch them score so I could watch a kickoff.

What a cluster fuck. The team scores a TD and apparently you can go for 1,2 or 3 points after a TD. But after the TD one of the O players spit on another player. So it’s a 15 yard penalty. Also. It looked like the RT moved early but wasn’t called. In the UFL you can throw a challenge flag on that. So the D challenged the false start and won. So it is now 2nd and goal at the 28 after the two penalties.

During the whole challenge they pipe the audio of the ref talking to the replay official while the announcer were still talking. And the announcers are trying to ask the replay official questions while he is trying to rule on the challenge. Total mess.

Anyway, they get everything sorted out and the ball slips out of the QBs hand. He picks it up and gets crushed as he throws the ball to the WR. The DB who hits him stand over him and gets a taunting penalty.

It was about 5 minutes of real time and they have run two plays. I couldn’t take any more and I didn’t see a score and a kickoff.

[Anti-Polar Bear]

Well, I was flipping the channels today and a UFL game was on. One team was on the 8 and about to score, so I thought I would watch them score so I could watch a kickoff.

What a cluster fuck. The team scores a TD and apparently you can go for 1,2 or 3 points after a TD. But after the TD one of the O players spit on another player. So it’s a 15 yard penalty. Also. It looked like the RT moved early but wasn’t called. In the UFL you can throw a challenge flag on that. So the D challenged the false start and won. So it is now 2nd and goal at the 28 after the two penalties.

During the whole challenge they pipe the audio of the ref talking to the replay official while the announcer were still talking. And the announcers are trying to ask the replay official questions while he is trying to rule on the challenge. Total mess.

Anyway, they get everything sorted out and the ball slips out of the QBs hand. He picks it up and gets crushed as he throws the ball to the WR. The DB who hits him stand over him and gets a taunting penalty.

It was about 5 minutes of real time and they have run two plays. I couldn’t take any more and I didn’t see a score and a kickoff.

You didn’t miss anything.

The UFL opted not to implement the XFL’s visionary/revolutionary, Seth Freaking Rollins-style kickoff format - the same format the NFL is currently plagiarizing. Instead, the UFL kicks off from the kicking team’s 20 while using “traditional” coverages.

As an aside, who y’all rooting for at Wrestlemania 40, Tribal Chief or American Nightmare?

[Fritz]

I'm in favor of it. Kick-offs as they are now add little to the game.

The point is to be entertained by the game. The added entropy/chaos will add value, IMO.

Agree something has to be done, but adding a new format that is complicated to understand and in need of heavy scrutiny for the million possible violations doesn't sound like the answer.

Why not kick off from your own thirty-five but have the kicking team line up at the opponent's thirty, with the returning team lined up at their own twenty? All kicks must be returned. That reduces the distance between blockers and would-be tacklers, reducing the violence of the collisions. Also, starting from the opponents' thirty with blockers only ten yards away reduces the speed potential tacklers can attain.

Seems simple enough, and workable.

[sharpe1027]

The fact that we have to come up with all these weird solutions just makes me more certain the answer is just to give up on the kickoff. You don't need onside kicks. Teams will adjust. Or you can allow a team to designate they will be trying for an onside kick. Don't let them kick deep in that situation.

[Fritz]

I think, to add some excitement, before the kickoff the ref who's in charge should be miked up and half to ask the kicking team this phrase: "Onside kick or balls deep?"