Bears refuse to bend to new kickoff rule

Bears refuse to bend to new kickoff rule, told by league to stop mid-game

By Doug Farrar

The Chicago Bears were one of six NFL teams that reportedly voted against the new rule moving kickoffs to the 35-yard line of the team doing the kicking. The rule, which moves the ball up from the 30-yard line and should cause more touchbacks and fewer exciting returns, was implemented by the league's Competition Committee at the owners meetings in March as a move to improve player safety. The thought was that those exciting returns also involve too many high-speed collisions, but the Bears weren't buying it.

In their Saturday preseason opener against the Buffalo Bills at Chicago's Soldier Field, the Bears refused to accept the new rule, and instead lined their first two kickoffs up at their 30, as had been in the past. Apparently, the officials on site didn't catch it, because no penalties were called and it took a call from Vice President of Officiating Carl Johnson to "put a stop to it," according to the Twitter account of Johnson's
predecessor, current Fox Sports analyst Mike Pereira.

Bears head coach Lovie Smith, who's had return teams among the league's best for a number of years, seemed unaffected by the violations and any potential fallout. In other words, it wasn't a mistake.

"[Bears kicker] Robbie Gould … we can put it on the 35 and he can kick it out each time,'' Smith said.
''We're not really getting a good evaluation of what we can do coverage-wise on some of our players. That's what we were trying to do with it.''

Last year, according to Football Outsiders' metrics, the Bears ranked first in average starting drive position — their average drive began just after their own 33-yard line. The Houston Texans were the worst team in this category; their average drive started just past their own 25-yard line. With almost a first-down's difference between best and worst, and given Chicago's recent history of great return men from Devin Hester to Danieal Manning
to Johnny Knox
(the picture above shows Knox taking a kick 70
yards in that very same Bills game), you can understand why Smith and the Bears aren't pleased about giving up an advantage they have obviously built their personnel decisions around.

The decision to move the ball up would actually help the Bears' kick coverage teams — FO notes that Chicago ranked 24th in average drive start allowed, allowing opponents to start at about their own 30-yard line. The Atlanta Falcons backed their opponents up to about the 24 on kicks last season, so there's the team that should be upset that the skill element has been taken out of the equation.

The rule seems like an overreaction built to take fun and excitement out of the game, and there have already been fairly serious effects. In the first preseason week alone, according to Paul Domowitch of Philly.com, 43 of 127 kickoffs, or 33.8 percent, were touchbacks. Throughout the 2010 season, the touchback rate was 16.4 percent.

It doesn't take a math major to understand the effect on the game, and why the Bears want to go rogue on this rule. Will they continue to do so, and what might the penalties be?

http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/blog/shu...urn=nfl-wp5084

If Wooten hadn't gotten injured, I'd be with 'em on that.

so...1 out of 3 KOs will be touchbacks? how boring.

His last sentence makes no sense. If the Bears move their kickoffs back to the 30 it puts them at a disadvantage to an opponent who kicks off from the 35. I can see why Lovie wanted the Bills to have a better shot at a return in order to evaluate his coverage team Saturday but to do it consistently only leaves the Bears at a disadvantage.

It's pretty plain to me why other teams are in favor of it when they watch the Bears #2 return star bring one back 70 yards even with the point of the kick off moved back to the 35. All this talk about injury reduction is just so much bullshit. It's about the fact that teams like the Bears have built a competitive advantage over other teams because they've invested in their return men and return teams. The NFL should be calling this the "Devin Hester Rule" if they were being honest about it. Reduce injuries, ha!

Maybe next year we should move for a rule that says that Peyton Manning can't throw more than 20 times per game or Aaron Rodger must pass from within a circle 3 feet in diameter and 7 yards directly behind the center. When you start passing rules that are such bald faced attempts to reduce the competitive advantage certain teams have the tinkering with rules for the sake of tinkering goes too far. It's pure bullsit and nothing less.

Seems the Lovie and the Bears aren't the only ones protesting the new rule on kickoffs. It's pretty unpopular all over. The old phrase "if it ain't broke don't fix it" comes to mind here. Maybe one season of this nonsense and they change it back.




New kickoff rules are winning few fans among players, coaches

• NFL.com
• Published: Aug. 15, 2011 at 05:54 a.m.
• Updated: Aug. 15, 2011 at 09:47 a.m.
• Liked: 10 | Comments: 107

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• By NFL.com

One of the most significant NFL rule changes in years is already provoking strong opinions after just one week of preseason games.
"I don't like it," Lions receiver Rashied Davis told the Detroit Free Press. "I'm just going to tell you the truth. I hate it."

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"The five-yard start is awful," linebacker Isaiah Ekejiuba told the paper. "Awful."

"I understand it, but I don't necessarily like it," echoed return man <a id="yui_3_3_0_2_1313431006188681" class="player-flyout" href="http://www.nfl.com/players/stefanlogan/profile?id=LOG760878">Stefan Logan.

In an effort to limit injuries, NFL owners voted in March to move kickoffs up five yards to the 35-yard line and restrict the running start that coverage units get to five yards behind the ball. The change is expected to greatly increase the number of touchbacks, leaving many players and fans concerned about losing one of the most exciting plays in the game.

Last season, about 16 percent of kickoffs resulted in touchbacks. In the first week of the 2011 preseason, that number rose to 33 percent, and might have been even higher except for the fact that some coaches were instructing their kickers to avoid touchbacks so that coverage teams could get some work in.

"We're going to get more touchbacks," Lions coach Jim Schwartz said. "It's not just the ability to move up five yards, but coverage groups are five yards closer to it. I think it's going to accomplish what the league hoped to accomplish, which is provide more touchbacks."

Logan said he expects about 25 percent fewer kick-return opportunities.
"I'm on both sides," Logan said. "I'm on the kickoff coverage and I'm on kickoff return, so it benefits me in a good way. But it takes away some stuff in a bad way."

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Cleveland Browns wide receiver/kick returner Josh Cribbs, one of the league's most electrifying return men, wasted no time voicing his opinion.

"I see an immediate amendment on the kickoff rule either (before) the end of the year or beginning of next year (because) without that part of the return game, it might as well be a scrimmage," Cribbs wrote on Twitter after watching Thursday night's opening preseason games.

Baltimore Ravens coach John Harbaugh is not a fan of the new rule, either. "If you look at the Eagles-Ravens preseason game, it was just a yawner," Harbaugh told The Baltimore Sun. "I wasn’t very impressed with it the first week."
In the Ravens’ preseason opener at Philadelphia, six of the seven kickoffs resulted in touchbacks.

"We’ve done a lot of homework on that and what causes the concussions in our building," Harbaugh told The Sun. "So, we'll be looking forward to the offseason and share some of that with the competition committee."
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Harbaugh said Ravens kicker Billy Cundiff would not be aiming for the end zone Friday against the Kansas City Chiefs.

"We’re going to have to punch it down there because we need to train our guys to cover kicks," Harbaugh said. "We’re not going to go through the whole season kicking touchbacks. That would be foolish.

"When you're coming from the 35-yard line, you are on top of that returner. It is scary how fast you can be on top of that returner. So, I think teams are going to try to pop it up inside the 10 and see if they can go smash the returner inside the 15. That will definitely be a strategy."

I love Harbaugh's position on this whole thing especially the thought that teams may play kickoffs just like a punt, pop it up short and some down hard on coverage. It's a free kick and you can't let it bounce so returners will either have to think fair catch or risk being hammered by the coverage. If the coverage unit is being coached to go down break through the blocking wedge and "smash" the returner exactly who will be injured less, the kickers?