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While he seems willing to give it a chance, Chiefs coach Andy Reid is skeptical of the changes that are coming to NFL kickoffs this season.
The league’s owners recently signed off on a one-year trial for new fair-catch rules. Under the new rules, kick returners can signal for a fair catch anywhere inside their own 25-yard-line and it will result in a touchback that will start the ensuing possession at the 25.
“My thing is, where does it stop, right?” Reid said . “We’ll see how this goes. You don’t want to take too many pieces away and you’ll be playing flag football.”
There are certainly pros and cons associated with the new kickoff rules. A major benefit to the rule change is that it will limit the amount of collisions that occur during kickoffs returns as it will undoubtedly limit the amount of returns. The league has been trying to make the game safer, and this is a significant step.
That being said, the new rules could all but eliminate kickoff returns, which have been an integral part of the league since its inception. Kickoffs already began to evaporate when the NFL moved touchbacks from the 20 to the 25-yard-line. The league’s decision in 2011 to move kickoffs from the 30 to the 35-yard-line also led to fewer kickoff returns.
Reid knows better than anyone the impact that a kick returner can have on a game. As an assistant on the Packers’ 1996 coaching staff, Reid watched as Desmond Howard became the first (and only) special teams player to win Super Bowl MVP in Green Bay’s 35-21 win over New England in Super Bowl XXXI. Howard’s 99-yard kickoff return late in the third quarter proved to be the game-clinching score.
As noted above, the NFL has committed to implementing these rules for only the 2023 season. The league will certainly make changes if the new rules have too many negative ramifications. But for this season, kickoffs will be significantly impacted, and each of the league’s 32 teams will have to adjust accordingly.
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