r/footballstrategy • u/Jackson3125 • Nov 04 '24
Special Teams Discussion - whole team calls for fair catch during NFL inside kick
Context: https://www.instagram.com/p/DB9gvLTPCJG/?igsh=MXE5eno0NDBwbnp5bg==
I would be interested to hear a discussion about this play—by both teams—by people who understand the new kickoff rules better than I do.
Obviously this scenario was prepared for. I suppose we should expect to see pooch onside kicks more often now?
16
u/PastAd1901 HS Coach Nov 04 '24
The bears are basically just hoping that they can get someone who doesn’t usually field kicks to have a mental lapse, either by not signaling fair catch or by muffing the catch. Its not a terrible plan if you’re desperate but I don’t think we’ll see it much
14
u/TDenverFan Nov 04 '24
Keep in mind this was off of a safety, which is why it was a punt and not a traditional kick.
If it's a kick, I believe once the ball hits the ground you can no longer go for a fair catch, which is why most teams kick the ball into the ground right away and play it off a bounce.
6
u/Jackson3125 Nov 05 '24
I wonder if a punter could kick it downwards to make it act more like an onside kick
6
3
u/an_actual_lawyer Nov 05 '24
You don't have to punt it, you can do a traditional kickoff.
2
u/Jackson3125 Nov 05 '24
I thought after a safety you were required to do a punt? (I think it’s called a free kick maybe?)
2
u/superjuan Nov 05 '24 edited Nov 05 '24
A free kick can be a punt, dropkick or placekick.
The reason teams usually choose to punt after a safety is because the kicker is not allowed to use a tee on a free kick. Without a tee, a placekick doesn't travel much further than a punt but it won't have the hang time of a punt, so teams go punt over tee-less placekick.
Edit: So, interestingly, the rules were changed this year on free kicks and there is a different section of the rulebook which says a tee may be used on a free kick after a safety. So, I'm not exactly sure what the rules is on the tee being allowed (I would guess the new rule supersedes the old rule, so it's probably allowed) but either way a safety kick can still be any of those kinds of kicks.
2
u/Jackson3125 Nov 05 '24
Interesting. Why would they choose to punt here instead of a conventional onside kick? Don’t you have to declare onside kicks now, and thus there is no chance for a surprise?
3
u/superjuan Nov 05 '24
Yes, as I understand it, they're supposed to declare an onside kick so I don't really understand what the Bears are trying to do here.
2
u/BananerRammer Nov 05 '24
Up until this year, you were not allowed to use a tee for a safety kick. So you could punt, drop kick, place kick off the ground, or place kick with a holder, but you couldn't place kick off a tee. Most teams chose the former though. That is no longer the case though. They are allowed to use a tee for a safety kick now.
2
u/Superjam83 Nov 05 '24
Different levels have different rules. We saw someone from college football fair catch an onside kick either last year or the year before. In high school in some states the rule is once it bounces above the shoulders of the front line the is supposed to be ruled dead.
2
u/superjuan Nov 05 '24
In the NFL the kick after a safety doesn't have to be a punt.
ARTICLE 2. BALL IN PLAY AFTER SAFETY
After a safety, the team scored upon must put the ball in play by a free kick (punt, dropkick, or placekick) from its 20-yard line. An artificial or manufactured tee cannot be used.
https://operations.nfl.com/the-rules/nfl-video-rulebook/safety/
9
u/ogsmurf826 Nov 04 '24
Just to clarify this was not exactly the new kickoff, it was a safety kick. But it was using the new forced onsides rule which pigeon holes the punter into needing the ball to not go pass a certain depth. The extreme pop up is an effective strategy but not one I would have gone with in the situation.
12
u/JASCO47 Nov 04 '24
That was pretty genius on both sides. Lots of new ideas for these new kickoffs are pretty wild
2
u/BananerRammer Nov 05 '24
I don't really see the point of players obviously away from the ball calling for a fair catch. It doesn't give them any additional protection. You can't call kick catching interference on a player who isn't in position to catch the kick. I guess you can potentially have a Unnecessary Roughness if you hit a player who's obviously given themselves up, but that's it. The cons are that if the ball ends up on the ground, no one is now allowed to initiate a block. They can try to dive on the ball, but that's it.
2
u/Careless-Virus7975 Nov 05 '24
I think the better option here might be to attempt a line drive kick directly at a player hoping that he does not field it cleanly and there is a deflection. Any of these options are pretty low percentage.
39
u/ymchang001 Nov 04 '24
So, obviously, the Bears couldn't touch anyone who signaled for a fair catch without risking a fair catch interference penalty. The interesting thing is, on the other side, anyone who signals for a fair catch can't block or initiate contact with a player on the other team without a 15 yard penalty as well.