Be sure to add “landing-zone violation” to the NFL lexicon.
The Giants and Lions got their first taste of the quirky new NFL Dynamic Kickoff rule during Thursday’s preseason opener and it only took two opportunities for things to go haywire.
Lions kicker Jake Bates got tricky by drilling a two-hopper down to the returners — and it looked like a brilliant strategy at first glance, as the bouncing ball was loose and Isaiah McKenzie was tackled at the Giants’ 2-yard line.
Only problem?
Bates was penalized for a landing-zone violation.
Part of the new rule is that the ball must be kicked between the 20-yard line and goal line.
If it touches the ground before the 20 — as it did in this case — the receiving team gains possession at the 40-yard line, so it amounted to a 38-yard change of field position.
The new rule, which was adapted from the XFL, is meant to accomplish two things: Increase action on a boring play – the NFL had its highest rate of kickoff touchbacks last season — while emphasizing safety by eliminating the full-speed collisions that used to happen with running starts on kickoffs.
Players from both teams line up five yards apart on the receiving team’s side of the field and cannot move until the ball either hits the ground or is caught.
Bates’ theory was that he could give his team a few extra steps downfield before the ball was possessed.
If a kickoff goes into the end zone in the air, the touchback goes to the 30-yard line.
If the ball bounces in the landing zone and rolls into the end zone, the touchback goes to the 20-yard line so long as it is recovered and downed by the receiving team.
The initial kickoff of the game went much smoother, with Bates’ kickoff being caught by McKenzie at the 3-yard line and returned for 31 yards (before a 10-yard holding penalty against the Giants’ Isaiah Hodgins).
The Giants’ first kickoff was the new standard operating procedure, too.
It was caught at the goal line and returned 28 yards.
Had returner Isaiah Williams wanted, he probably could’ve let the ball bounce in the end zone and roll through the back for a touchback at the 30-yard line.
Got it?
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