Every sports league evolves in terms of its range, its regulations, and more. Every season, we could see new rules being established to improve the experience of the sport. Some of these changes will be negligible and may go unnoticed. However, some of these changes can have a large impact on the game. And when you bet on football, you know that this can change a game’s outcome. In this case, it’s the New NFL kickoff rule that confuses teams.
Luckily for teams in the NFL, they can test out the new rules during the preseason. And so far, the rule change has caused quite a lot of fumbles- no pun intended- for a lot of teams. Let’s find out exactly what this new rule is and why it’s confusing players leaguewide.
What Happened to the Kickoffs
Aside from using the best sports betting software for sportsbooks, you also need to know the sport well. If you are adept at both, then you will find it easy to earn well from NFL betting. The new rule has affected teams so much, that in the first week of the preseason, the stats went haywire. Over 16 preseason games, there were 127 kickoffs with 82% of them getting returned. For a better perspective, in 2023, Week 1 of the regular season had only 22% of kickoffs returned.
With all the odd kickoffs happening, perhaps the weirdest one was that of the Kansas City Chiefs. The reigning Super Bowl champs have not adjusted to this rule yet. It all started when the Jaguars scored a touchdown 26 seconds before the first half ended. After the score, the Jaguars kicked the ball off. The ball landed in the end zone, then bounced back to the field of play, just at the one-yard line.
When this happened, Mecole Hardman stepped into the end zone and touched the ball, hoping for a touchback for the Chiefs. This was the rule last year, after all. But the new rule says differently. And after deliberations between the coaching staff and the officials, you now had a safety.
What is the New NFL Kickoff Rule?
Remember that when you become an NFL bookie, you need to be aware of the rules and how these things can affect a game’s outcome. When something like this happens, the odds are likely to move quickly or drastically. Aside from knowing the rules well, you also need to be quick to check and manage your sportsbook’s action.
The new NFL kickoff rule states that all kickoffs have to make it to the landing zone. This is the area of the field that goes from the receiving team’s goal line to their 20-yard line. if it does not reach the 20, then the receiving team gets a touchback at their 40-yard line. This is a good strategic position actually. Last weekend, this happened three times. And don’t forget that with this rule, a kick that lands short of the landing zone is penalized the same as a kick that goes out of bounds. Hopefully, teams will use the preseason to adjust. If so, then by the time the season starts in September, kickoff return rates will go back to normal.
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