Perhaps the rest of Week 1 will put the “dynamic” into the NFL’s new kickoff rules.
In the 2024 season opener between the defending champion Kansas City Chiefs and Baltimore Ravens, the league debuted its new Dynamic Kickoff rule, aimed at breathing life into the play while also making it safer.
In Thursday night’s game, there were 11 kickoffs, nine of which went for touchbacks. The new rule brings a touchback to the 30-yard line instead of the 25, so the offenses got a 5-yard boost.
The two returns, both by the Chiefs, didn’t provide much spark. Carson Steele took the first 28 yards to the 33-yard-line. Mecole Hardman took the second-half kickoff 31 yards, but a Chiefs holding penalty pushed them back to the 19. Two fourth-quarter kickoffs by the Ravens both went for touchbacks. All six of Kansas City’s kickoffs went into the end zone.
We saw some glimpses of potential on the two returns, including K.C. double-teaming the middle Ravens defender in an attempt to open a lane. But with all the boots into the end zone, it was too few to get into anything exotic.
Hopefully, the final 15 games of the opening week provide more pizzazz to a play the NFL admitted before making the change was dying. The takeaway from the first game, however, is that we’re still likely to get a trove of touchbacks, particularly late in games.
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