On Friday, we noted that: Potential flaws in the new kickoff rulethe defense may end up chasing the kicker during the PAT attempt, but it actually has no effect.
Penalties for tries only occur at the point of the kick, and the composition of the other 21 players remains unchanged, so there's no big downside to doing everything in your power to prevent extra points.
After posting the story (and discussing it in Friday's discussion) PFT Live), I've heard the idea in some circles that teams have the option of penalizing tries after kickoff. So, for example, if a kicker gets rough during a try, the kicking team can kick the ball out of the end zone and bring the offense back from 30 points to 15 points before the next drive begins. can.
According to the NFL, that's not the case. “Enforcement after kickoff is not an option,” a league spokesperson told PFT via email Friday.
Maybe that will change. Consider the last part of the one-page summary of the new regulations. “The Special Teams Working Group will continue to work with the Officiating Department to consider any approved rulings or additional language needed to support this new rule. This language will be reviewed with clubs and for comment. It will be circulated to all clubs and will be finalized by the membership meeting in May.”
In theory, this process could be used to address the “kicker breakthrough” loophole. And yes, the easy fix is to give the kicking team the option to force the kicker to rough on the try after the kick.
But think about it this way. What if the receiving team returns the kick for a touchdown? Does the offense then start driving on his 15 of the defense? A touch on a penalty that didn't happen during that play, to say the least. It would be strange to see a down taken off the board.
That's why they shouldn't have rushed into the new kickoff rule. It would have taken us two months to solve it if we had thought it through, identified potential problems, and solved them.
And good luck fixing the problem for defenders who have no reason not to block every PAT with all their might. There's actually no good solution. At least none that we can think of.Feel free to Please suggest what you may have.
