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Originally Posted by chumdawg
Fun win last night.
A question about the new kickoff rules. It seems that hitting it to the back of the end zone will be quite common this year, with touchbacks galore. So on the one hand, some folks are saying "there goes the kick return" as if it's a thing of the past. But one thing I noticed last night is how *right there* the coverage team was when the kicks did come up short, due to their being five yards closer and also, I'm sure, to the new no-wedge rules. So...
If you were a special teams coach, would you prefer to just kick it through the end zone every time, or would you want to pop the kick up to somewhere inside the five and bet on your coverage team? I could easily see teams getting pinned inside their own ten-yard-line. Not to mention maybe fumbling it away, if the hit came quickly. I mean, they can't let the ball land (it's live) and they can't fair-catch it. You risk a big return, but is the potential reward worth it?
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I thought about this same thing during the game. I noticed that when the guys caught the ball and it panned out a bit you saw the defenders already nearing the end zone. I mean, sure, if you get a hole you could break it even easier but there is absolutely the risk for good kickers to try to kick it right at the 1-5 yard line to try to force the team to return it. You definitely could benefit even more than ever before by having a strong special teams unit.