What tactics were used in the first preseason week of dynamic kickoffs?

Analysis by Rich Madrid

One week of preseason football has shown how potentially game changing the new kickoff rules can be. The NFL hopes to create a more “dynamic” kickoff with the intent of seeing more kickoff returns while at the same time increasing player safety.

It’s not clear how that increases player safety aside from preventing high speed collisions, which can still occur as the kicking team essentially gets a running head start in some situations. Nonetheless, these can be game changing plays in either direction as we’ll see from various kickoff and set-ups from week one of the preseason.

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Every special teams coach is looking to make their mark on the dynamic kickoff. For the first time, a special teams coach is going to have meaningful formation variations to deploy and to defend against.

Knuckleball kicks didn’t fare well

Giving the kicking team a running head start — because the receiving team is watching where the ball goes and can’t move until they see it land in the landing zone — can put the kicking team at an advantage with essentially a knuckleball kick into the landing zone.

From the Lions-Giants preseason game, the Lions kicker lobbed a knuckleball kick that bounced several times before landing in the landing zone and before the kick returner could snag it.

Fortunately for the Giants, this ended up being a penalty on the Lions because the ball did not first land in the landing zone. (It also should have been blown dead immediately.) If kickers can figure out how to lob a kick into the zone, they can achieve the same desired effect of pinning the opposing offense inside the 10 or 5 yard line.

The Texans were flagged for the same kick that landed short of the landing zone but the play was correctly whistled dead immediately before the returner could attempt a return.

Exploiting coverage for long returns

Two teams ripped off huge returns in their games on Saturday night as well.

The Titans ended up with a 63 yard return when the kick returner broke through the first and only line of defense by the 49ers, leaving the kick returner 1-on-1 with the kicker.

The Jaguars kick returner path set up and funneled the Chiefs coverage team to the left hash before he made several quick cuts on the way to a 73-yard return.

In both videos, you can see how putting the kickoff team at the same level due to the coverage team’s alignment can create explosive plays in the kickoff if the returner can make a couple of players miss. These two kicks are what the NFL desires.

‘Look and drop’

Another notable strategy from other teams included the Panthers using “look and drop” blocking technique as described by Shawn Syed of Sumer Sports in an article on the XFL kickoffs. Syed described the technique as similar to when linebackers zone drop on pass plays, and saying the technique is “when the return team sets their blocking unit 4 or more yards off the initial line.”

On the kickoff, you can see the “look and drop” technique where the kick return team takes their cues from the kick returner on when to begin their movement and set up to block. Syed told me that in all the kicks he analyzed from the XFL, “looking back was something no XFL teams did.”

Overloading the receiving team’s restraining line

The Patriots and Lions also experimented with moving additional players in the setup zone (30-35 yard line) up to the restraining line (35). The receiving team is allowed to have up to two players in the setup zone but off the line.

The Patriots were unable to find success with that formation, but the Lions, below, were able to snag a 28-yard return, nearly getting to the spot of where they would have the ball on a touchback.

The formation puts all the blockers on the same level as the kickoff team making it easier for the returner to find a crease.

Offensive linemen as outside blockers

In the Miami game, the Dolphins experimented on the kick return team with offensive linemen on the edges of the formation as outside blockers.

Converging on the fly ball

With a lot of focus on the formations, it seems that there was confusion in one game for the deep receivers who are under very little constraints. In the Baltimore game, both the Eagles and Ravens two deep kick returners had issues sorting out who was going to catch and return it on kicks down the middle.

Line stunts

In the Colts game, the Broncos experimented with line stunts similar to how defensive lines create pressure and scheme players free to rush the quarterback. The result was a free runner 1-on-1 with the returner (left side of the screen).

With two more weeks in preseason, it’ll be interesting to see what issues get sorted out, what formations and personnel teams experiment with, and if we’ll see a few more explosive kick returns as teams strategize on ways to block and set up their return teams.

Image: Alli Rusco/Minnesota Vikings