New NFL Rules: Big Changes
Over the years, the NFL has made many changes to how the game is played, some of which have been bad and some of which have been good. Recently, they made two changes: one involving kick-offs and the other banning hip-drop tackling.
The kick-off change made the alignment on the field look better. All kicking team players other than the kicker will line up with one foot on the receiving team’s 40-yard line, and the kicker cannot cross the 50-yard line until the ball touches the ground or the player is in a landing zone or end zone. The ten kicking-team players cannot move until the ball hits the ground or the player is in the landing or end zone. The receiving team will line up as follows - Setup Zone: a 5-yard area from the 35 to the 30-yard line where at least nine receiving team players must line up. There must be at least seven players with a foot on the 35-yard line with alignment requirements. Players not on the restraining line must be lined up in the setup zone outside the hash marks. All players in the setup zone cannot move until the kick has hit the ground, or a player in the landing zone or the end zone. A maximum of 2 returners may line up in the landing zone and can move at any time prior to or during the kick.
With changes to the alignment come changes to the landing zone. The landing zone is the area between the receiving team’s goal line and its 20-yard line. Any kick that hits short of the landing zone is treated like a kickoff out of bounds, and the ball is spotted at the 40-yard line; play would be blown dead as soon as the kick lands short of the landing zone. Any kick that hits in the landing zone must be returned. Any kick that hits in the landing zone and then goes into the end zone – must be returned or downed by the receiving team. Suppose downed, then touchback to the 20-yard line. Kick hits in the end zone stay inbounds, get returned or downed, and if downed, then touchback to the 30-yard line. Any kick that goes out of the back of the end zone, whether in the air or bounces touchback to the 30-yard line.
This new kick-off rule is a mediocre change because I see why they made the change. They want more high-scoring games, but I also feel this would drag out each game and make it a little harder to sit through.
Now for the hip-drop tackle rule. The hip-drop tackle is when a defender wraps up an offensive player from behind or the side and becomes deadweight, usually landing on their legs. The NFL has banned the hip-drop tackle because they have deemed it “too dangerous” for the offensive players and put them at risk of injury. I think this change is unfair to the defense because it makes it harder for them to do their job, which at a fundamental level is tackling the offense. I feel that the prime of the NFL was around the Legion of Boom era of the Seahawks (probably biased as a Seahawks fan), with an absolute monster of a defensive line that made every game an absolute blast. Still, you don’t see that type of gameplay anymore because of rule changes like banning the hip-drop tackle.