2019 Super Bowl: The NFL’s new kickoff rules and explained

2019 Super Bowl: The NFL’s new kickoff rules and explained, The NFL made a few major changes to kickoff rules prior to the 2018 season, and if you’re a casual fan that only watches the Super Bowl each year, you might be wondering why the play doesn’t look quite the same. With the intent of making kickoffs safer for players, the NFL barred players from getting a running start on the kicking team, eliminated wedge blocking

• Players on the kicking team must line up within one yard of the “restraining line”, which is the 35-yard line for kickoffs and the 20-yard line for safety kicks.
• The kicking team must also line up its 10 defenders evenly across the field – with five players on each side of the ball.
• The return team cannot block players until they’ve crossed midfield.
• When the ball is kicked, the return team must have eight players lined up in a 15-yard “setup zone,” which extends from the kicking team’s 45-yard line to the 40 yard line on the other side. Only three returners can be outside the setup zone.
• Touchbacks will result in the ball being placed at the 25-yard line, another recent change.

How did these changes impact the 2018 season?

Well, for one, onside kicks are almost impossible to pull off. There were only four successful onside kick recoveries all season, down from 13 a season ago. According to the Washington Post, teams successfully recovered onside kicks 21% of the time in 2017, but that figure plummeted to 7.5% this season.

These changes were meant to make the game safer, though, and the NFL has been successful in reducing the amount of concussions on kickoff plays. There were zero concussions on kickoffs in the preseason.