The 2024 Super Bowl highlighted the irrelevance of kickoffs but does the NFL have a better alternative

The 2024 Super Bowl highlighted the irrelevance of kickoffs but does the NFL have a better alternative

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Some of the most exciting plays from LVIII involved the foot. San Francisco kicker set a Super Bowl record with a 55-yard field goal that lasted until the next quarter when kicker nailed a 57-yarder. And the game turned on a muffed punt in the third quarter that hit off the foot of special teamer . But for all the drama surrounding the foot, there was absolutely none with the kickoff. The two teams kicked off a total of 13 times, and not a single one was ever returned out of the end zone. Thirteen kickoffs, 13 touchbacks.Two months ago, EVP of football operations Troy Vincent called the kickoff a "dead, ceremonial play," and that couldn't have been more true in the NFL's crown jewel event. The officials may as well have placed the ball at the 25-yard line and blew the whistle rather than boring the 22 players and more than 120 million Americans with the perfunctory kick. The NFL has been actively trying to figure out ways to adjust the kickoff that reduces injuries -- specifically concu sions -- while still serving as a nece sary and exciting play in the course of the game. The league has succeeded in its first mi sion, but fewer kickoffs are being returned Alexandre Fortin Women Jersey than ever. And sources tell CBS Sports the sentiment is there's no leading alternative right now to solve the i sue of the disappearing kickoff return. Last offseason, owners approved a resolution that allows players to fair-catch a kickoff that would result in the ball being placed at the 25-yard line. In the 2023 regular season, kickoff returns dropped dramatically. In 2022, 38% of kickoffs were returned compared to just 22% in the 2023 regular season.NFL kickers had gotten almost too good at hanging the ball inside the 10-yard line to encourage a return. And the league saw its injury data spike in 2022, causing the NFL to force a rule change.The league anticipated that returns would drop from 38% to 31%, according to internal modeling. But they severely underestimated that number, and the league office is concerned about the lack of returns. Concu sions sustained on kickoffs did drop from 20 to eight, which is a positive sign. However, league officials said that where there were returns, there were still concu sions. Pick Six Newsletter Crafted By The Best NFL Experts Get the day's big stories + fun stuff you love like mock drafts, picks and power rankings. I agree to receive the "Pick Six Newsletter" and marketing communications, updates, special offers (including partner offers), and other information from CBS Sports and the Paramount family of companies. By pre sing sign up, I confirm that I have read and agree to the and acknowledge Paramount's . Please check the opt-in box to acknowledge that you would like to subscribe. Thanks for signing up! Keep an eye on your Lance Bouma Kids Jersey inbox. Sorry! There was an error proce sing your subscription. The i sue facing the league and the competition committee is finding a good alternative. At this point, there doesn't seem to be a lot of support for the XFL rule that has 10 players line up 5 yards apart and start their action after the returner has secured the kick.The XFL option has the kicker kicking off from his own 30 with the 10 players on each side at the opponent 35. The returner fields it and then the 20 players can move, with the intention that there would be fewer high-collision impacts. "It's not Dylan Strome Jersey an aesthetically good-looking play. It looks gimmicky," one NFL player told CBS Sports. "But I don't know how else you limit concu sions in a dramatic way without slowing the play down."Eliminating the kickoff altogether is not something the league has shown any interest in. The play also has to remain in the game for the sake of an onside kick, which has seen its recovery numbers decline in recent years as well.The XFL option would eliminate the ability to run an onside kick without another alternative. There's been no movement with NFL team owners in recent years to adopt a fourth-and-15 play that could replace the onside. The competition committee plans to discu s all things special teams at their annual meeting at the NFL Combine in Indianapolis later this month, sources say. Perhaps new ideas could come about there to present to team owners later this spring for what could be a vote to make the kickoff relevant again in the NFL.
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