New kickoff rule courts potential chaos for NFL

The NFL has stolen its new kickoff play from a league that no longer uses it.

Chew on that for a second.

The XFL developed the electric football-style play, which has the players packed together and frozen in place while the kick is in the air, with all hell breaking loose once the kick is caught. Could all hell break loose for the NFL when the play is introduced this year?

Possibly.

The XFL, which returns this weekend as the UFL, has ditched the play. Which means that the XFL’s trash literally has become the NFL’s treasure. Or maybe it’s just fool’s gold.

We don’t know what will happen. Last year, when the NFL first floated the idea of co-opting the XFL kickoff, one head coach suggested that it will be a disaster, with highly-skilled kick returners finding an opening in the cluster of bodies and bolting for the end zone, with only the kicker to beat. Given that the NFL is openly pining for more scoring, the powers-that-be won’t complain about more points.

But will it be fair? Will it put too much emphasis on a play that had been systematically neutered?

It feels like the NFL rushed this through, instead of considering all potential consequences and making a careful decision. On Tuesday, Commissioner Roger Goodell acknowledged that they might have to “tinker” with the rule.

Easier said than done. First, the NFL rarely changes rules during a given season, due to broader concerns about the integrity of that season. So, once the 272-game ride starts, they’re not getting off. Second, the new kickoff rule is a one-year experiment. To continue it in 2025 in any form, the league will need to muster at least 24 votes.

This year, three teams opposed the change — the 49ers, Raiders, and Packers. Next year, if six more teams decide they’re not interested in continuing the experiment, it will be gone. It’s also possible that, as the league office “tinkers,” it won’t be able to build a coalition of 24 teams to get behind any one specific permutation of the rule.

Much is to be…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/kickoff-rule-courts-potential-chaos-134538089.html

Author : ProFootball Talk on NBC Sports

Publish date : 2024-03-27 13:45:38

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