Since the rule change it is down to 6%. Even when Thomas on the Jets butterfingered the perfect onside kick, he had enough time to recover it. This really isn’t a viable way to get the ball back anymore. So how do we fix it?
Some say the NFL should adopt the defunct AAF’s one 4th and 15 play from the 30 to keep the ball. But personally, I think that is a bit too gadgety.
Instead I think the NFL should looks to another league, the AFL. (Not the one from the 1960’s). In Arena league, in the final two minutes, if the offensive team does not get positive yardage, the clock doesn’t run. It almost turns into the equivalent of an incomplete pass. Just think, no more dainty knee dunks by a human victory cigar. Instead, you have to earn your seconds off the clock.
If you want to, you can even say only lost yardage will turn into a clock stoppage. It would make a little harder for the defense to stop the clock, but at least know more kneel downs.
Might as well just do away with kickoffs…there was a return for a TD today, but what is the point of banging kickoffs out of the endzone 90% of the time.
Kickoffs and punts in general are a waste of time, seems like 75% of the time there’s a penalty. I’d tell my punt returner to fair catch everything and don’t bother having anyone block for a return, just try blocking the kick.
Correct, if its just kicked high it can be fair caught. The way to eliminate the fair catch is for it to hit the ground first, which is why onside kicks are done the way they are done.
just a thought --didn’t the punter ray guy from the raiders kick a record high punt that hit the over head camera gondola in one of the domed stadiums–i think it was the one in new orleans
I fully agree with you on kickoffs and I think the reason we still have them is part tradition, but mainly ad revenue.
Punts are different. Punts have an impact on games every single week. The return isn’t the main factor in how punts impact the game. Its how the punter kicks it, and how the return man chooses to field it or not field it that creates most of the impact.
Yeah, and he was playing a game of horseshoes or hand grenades, that almost would have mattered. That is the point I am trying to make. Even a perfect onside kick that causes a bobble is hard to recover now, because only 2 or 3 guys even have a chance of getting to it.
kicking and punting have ALWAYS been part of the game quit F*&ing with the game of football and changing it so eventually, it looks nothing like original NFL Football. It’s already a watered down version of what it “was” , but lets keep screwing with the game…what’s next?? Flag Football?
I’m sympathetic to that view, but nothing has “always” been a part of the game, outside of two teams showing up. The game has always made adjustments and evolved to make it more efficient and exciting, dating back to the 1800s. With the speed and size of players, and technology, the game needs to adjust to survive. Not all decisions are going to work out, but I do think they’re trying to make it better, not disrupt the tradition.
Onside kicks aren’t supposed to be easy. They are a last ditch, desperation attempt to come back.
I do have ideas on how to make the kickoff more entertaining though, since it’s damn near obsolete.
Kickoffs thru the upright = 1 point. This way, if a team is down by 9 in the last seconds of the game, t they could score a TD, go for 2, and then kickoff thru the uprights to tie the game. While it’s not a tremendously high % to split the uprights from that distance, it does bring an element of interest to an area that has been basically eliminated.
Also, since kickers seem to be the odd man out, this rule would make GM’s decide if they need to dress 2 kickers per week. One for field goals and extra points, and one with a huge leg for kickoffs.
I know it will never happen, because the NFL hates doing things that are entertaining, but it would help with the idiotic formality of kicking the ball off thru the end zone 95% of the time.
Quasi-serious, coat the ball in water soluble grease. Hilarity ensues as everyone tries to get a grip on that slippery little sucker. You have to use something water soluble so they can quickly hose down the turf to degrease it.