Well, any team that plays Denver will start every drive at the 20. Prater has a cannon leg as it is...
There is so much bullshit going on w/ the NFL, but I'm mostly indifferent to this issue. Isn't moving the kickoff back to the 30 yd line what originally skewed OT results in favor of whoever won the coin toss? If so then maybe now they won't have to fuck with the OT rules.. oh, nvm, they've already done that.
There are little changes to the sport every year and there are big changes every few years. Kickoffs are being moved back to where they once were. There's nothing to get alarmed about here.
Don't like these rule changes at all. KOs produce some of the most exciting plays in the game and can swing the momentum of a game heavily, just look at the Pittsburgh game (reg season) when Smith took the opening KO for a TD, that was a HUGE boost for our team that was struggling to produce points at that point in the season. Atleast they didn't vote to make the 2 man wedge illegal, that would of really sucked. Goodell needs to be careful, all these rule changes are going to end up ruining the league, football is a violent sport and there isn't much that can change that, no matter how hard he tries.
Yes what posters haven't mentioned here is that this is becoming a trend in the NFL. Player safety is becoming the most important part of the game. I feel that the NFL does not give two shits about what the fans want and its going to get worse people. They act as if these guys are forced into what they do, but the reality is that these guys know what they're getting into. If they wanted to be safe then they should have played soccer. It reminds me of the smoking ban in NYC (whether you agree with it or not). Sure, they just said they were banning it bars/public establishments at the time, but I wasn't stupid and called their BS. Now its banned virtually everywhere in Manhattan because the initial smoking ban was the first domino. Same thing holds true with these new NFL rules, its only going to get worse.
First, moving the kick closer to the endzone would hurt the longest kickers, not help them, since it reduces the advantage they have over the kickers who aren't as long (just imagine the kickoff being moved to the 50 - then every kicker would kick it out of the end zone, and the longer kickers would have no advantage at all). Second, Janikowski does not "easily kick it out of the end zone." In fact, he wasn't even one of the longer kickers in the league last year. Among kickers with at least 40 kickoffs, Janikowski ranked 15th, averaging 65.5 yards per kick. Only Cundiff and Gostkowski had higher touchback rates among the kickers longer than he is, so it might be that he kicks them high, but he didn't kick them particularly far last year. http://www.nfl.com/stats/categoryst...tegory=KICKING&conference=null&qualified=true
Kickers with bigger legs can get more height and hangtime so the advantage isn't necessarily nullified. Or they can just bomb it through the endzone every time.
i don't like it at all. There were 28 kick return TD's last year, versus 4 the last year kickoffs were done at the 35. They are dulling the game, while turning it into offensive flag football. There are 3 phases to this game. I'd rather the emphasis on ST be around superior coaches and 11 man units, and not on Kickoff specialists who can send it 7 yds deep into the endzone. And btw, we need a kickoff specialist now. If Leon Washington kneels down instead of scoring twice, Seattle does not make the playoffs. Likewise, if Cromartie takes a touchback, maybe the Jets don't beat Indy. Not a fan..
We need to go Ditka in the draft for a guy that can boom it to the endzone. If he has one huge leg and can tackle then we should give him a Revis contract.
dont worry this will change in a year when the owners have them by the balls again and they cant say anything about player safety in the negotiations. this is all about making the players believe they have their best interests at heart. which we all know is bullshit.
