I know we are just one week into the season and a lot of teams are still knocking the dust off and are prone to make a few more mistakes than usual but I have notice a lot of kicks returned to TDs already. I thought the idea was that they moved the ball to the 35 yard line to make more touchbacks and eliminate some injuries but it looks like it has had a different result. I don't have the stats available to check this out but it seems that a lot more kickoffs are being brought out of the endzone and the kick coverage has been somewhat slack thus far. Is this a result of the e kickoff rule and teams expecting their kicker to get touchbacks? Maybe they have spent less time on coverage. I think this is also bleeding into the punt teams as well, as most special teams speed players cover both punts and kickoffs.
Don't get me wrong, I like to see a returner take one to the house every now and then, but at the rate it's happening now it's gonna get boring. It will go from "Man, did you see player X take that kickoff back for a TD? That kick really has some wheels on him." to " Oh look, Player X just scored on another kickoff. I wish someone would tackle that kid so we can see what the offense can do."
I have also noticed that some kickers are still having a problem getting the ball to the endzone. I was expecting to see some kicks go through the uprights. There are plenty landing in the EZ but I have seen quite a few caught at the 2 or 3 yard line and produce a good return.
It just seems like another one of the NFLs rules going the wrong way from what they expected. And I may be alone in this but I think they should have left it at the 30 and kept the emphasis on kick coverage. I don't remember that many injuries coming from kickoffs in the first place, seems to me thaey were coming from the offense when a receiver or running back caught a helmet up the nostril during a cross pattern.
Am I the only one that feels this way? let me know what you think