April 20, 2016

Giants' John Mara: NFL May Dump Kickoffs: "We're not at the point where we want to take the kickoff out of the game completely, although we may be moving in that direction. ... It still does remain an exciting play, but it's also a dangerous play. Obviously concussions are on the top of our list in terms of our concerns for the game going forward." -- New York Giants co-owner John Mara, a member of the NFL Competition Committee

posted by rcade to football at 01:29 PM - 5 comments

Specifically, say a team scores. They would then get the ball on their own 30-yard line and have one chance to gain 15 additional yards and keep the ball. If they failed to gain 15 yards, the ball would turn over on downs. Alternatively, the team could choose to punt instead of attempting to gain 15 yards.

(Fun fact: This rule changed was proposed by then-Buccaneers coach Greg Schiano.)

I could have guessed that last part, because this idea is somehow genius and stupid at the same time. Here's an idea -- let's just give the other team the ball on the 20.

posted by Etrigan at 02:12 PM on April 20, 2016

Is there a way to do a kickoff with staggered lines of scrimmage with 2 or 3 players of each team on them, so nobody is running a great distance before an initial collision with an opponent?

posted by rcade at 03:11 PM on April 20, 2016

"We're not at the point where we want to take the kickoff out of the game completely..."

But in general, the greater the number of kicking plays involving the Giants that we can do away with, the better.

posted by beaverboard at 04:36 PM on April 20, 2016

I've thought about using the Canadian version of having the choice of kickoff or scrimmage, only extending it to include after touchdowns (since the rule covers only field goals).

Teams with good return men might want to have the scoring team kick off; a team which needs to score late (as in a 2-minute drill) might want to take possession immediately. Keep the start at the 20-yard line.

posted by jjzucal at 08:08 PM on April 20, 2016

a team which needs to score late (as in a 2-minute drill) might want to take possession immediately.

My instinct said the opposite on this. I think a team in need of a quick score might take the kickoff to shorten the field, but this all depends on the exact rules that govern the clock.

posted by prof at 09:14 AM on April 21, 2016

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