beast
  • beast
  • Select Member Topic Starter
10 months ago
I can't do this article justice, but I think they make an interesting point.

With the theory that teams are either going to 1) Purposely have Touchbacks that lead to the 30 yard line, or 2) Kickers are going to be kicking knuckle balls....

It's interesting that the Packers seem to only be practicing with one deep returner and a blocker where other teams we've seen seem to be practicing with two deep returners, to cut the field in half to make a knuckle ball harder to get past them.

And interesting seeing what the smart strategy will be going forward.

Green Bay is trying something you didn’t see in the Hall of Fame Game.

The NFL’s new kickoff is going to take some time to get used to, visually. Debuted earlier this week in the preseason-opening Hall of Fame Game, we got a glimpse of how the Green Bay Packers  and special teams coordinator Rich Bisaccia might attack the massive change that is coming to the start of halves and end of scoring drives.


The new set of regulations, tabbed “the dynamic kickoff” by the league, were passed by a 29-3 vote at the owners’ meetings in the spring. The Packers were one of the three teams that didn’t vote yes on the proposal, as president/CEO Mark Murphy claimed that it was the club’s opinion that the league should have tested the kickoff out in the 2024 preseason before implementing the rules (and possibly adjustments) in the 2025 regular season — rather than rolling out the rules fully for the 2024 regular season.


Here’s what you need to know:








While the kickoff specialist is still kicking the ball from the 45-yard line, there are many changes to the alignment of the kickoff. The coverage team will now begin on the returning team’s 40-yard line, just five yards away from what is called the “set up zone.” The “set up zone” is a five-yard range (35-yard line to 30-yard line) where return teams must allocate at least nine players on the kickoff unit. Neither team can move until the ball lands in the “landing zone” or the returner has touched the ball.








What is the “landing zone?” I’m glad you asked. The landing zone is any area inside the 20-yard line up to the goal line. If a ball hits in the landing zone and is either downed by the returner in the end zone or goes out the back of the end zone, the offense’s drive starts at the 20-yard line. If the ball goes into or through the back of the end zone instead of traveling into the landing zone first, it will come out to the 30-yard line. There are no fair catches allowed in this new kickoff.








So how are the Packers going to approach the play? The coverage unit isn’t too interesting, as it’s just 10 players on the line waiting for the returner to touch the ball. The return unit, though, should have a pretty wide variance, based on what we’ve already seen.


Green Bay played a pair of two players on each sideline and three interior blockers at the 35-yard line in each of their kickoff return attempts on Saturday. Five yards behind those players were two more blockers, who split the three interior players and the pair of sideline blockers.


Instead of using split returners, though, the Packers used one deep returner and one returner who was further upfield and used as a lead blocker. Again, that’s different from what we’ve seen deployed so far.






For the first time... the Dynamic Kickoff

: @ProFootballHOF  Game on ESPN/ABC
: Stream on #NFLPlus  pic.twitter.com/wga0LmuvtH 
— NFL (@NFL) August 2, 2024 









In the Hall of Fame Game, both the Chicago Bears  and Houston Texans  had return units that were looking at the returner to get a signal that the play was going to officially begin for them. That wasn’t the case for the Packers, whose return team had fixed eyes on the kickoff coverage team on every rep.






Packers Family Night KOR/KO cc: @schwartzsteins  pic.twitter.com/ZRJw9APdkC 
— Justis Mosqueda (@JuMosq) August 4, 2024 









How are the Packers’ return team blockers getting a queue that the light turned green? Maybe it’s the upfield returner vocally telling the unit to start. However, how that will play on the road in enemy territory has yet to be tested.


The other difference you’ll notice between the Packers’ returns and the Hall of Fame Game returns is that in the Hall of Fame Game the teams were using split returners.


When I talked to sources about the new kickoff , I mostly received two theories on what was going to happen in the regular season:




A lot of direct (non-landing zone) touchbacks, because the play doesn’t penalize them enough relative to where kickoff returns are projected to be brought back to.


A lot of odd knuckleball kicks sent straight into the “landing zone” at a million miles an hour, as teams try to take advantage of the new “hangtime” — which is going to be the time it takes for a returner to field a ball cleanly after a ball lands in the “landing zone.”




If teams were trying to play coy about their intentions to find an edge with this knuckleball style until the regular season, when games count, you’d expect them to do what the Bears and Texans did in the Hall of Fame Game: Practice returns with split returners, but kick the ball softly down the middle so future opponents don’t have tape on the knuckleballs you’re almost certainly going to try in Week 1.


Why then the Packers don’t think they’re going to need a second deep returner, instead allowing just one player to cover 53 and 1/3rd yards sideline to sideline, is a question we just can’t quite solve yet. Based on reports from training camp, Green Bay has been practicing with a single returner throughout the summer. Whether that is an edge on the rest of the league or is going to be something they’ll need to quickly adjust will be one of the early stories of the regular season.




Continue Reading @ Justis Mosqueda 

Justis Mosqueda wrote:


UserPostedImage
wpr
  • wpr
  • Preferred Member
10 months ago
It wouldn't surprise me if GB uses one returner in practices open to the public and preseason games then switches to two returners when they games count.
UserPostedImage
Mucky Tundra
10 months ago
During the Family Night broadcast, Larrivee and Rock had Kuhn come on to talk about the new kickoff due to his ST experience. Kuhn said that it'll get real interesting once teams get a feel for it and start experimenting for it during the season.
Under Construction!
Fan Shout
dfosterf (11-Jun) : There will be a mini camp practice Thursday.
Zero2Cool (11-Jun) : He's been sporting a ring for a while now. It's probably Madonna.
Martha Careful (10-Jun) : We only do the tea before whoopee, it relaxes me.
wpr (10-Jun) : That's awesome Martha.
Mucky Tundra (10-Jun) : How's the ayahuasca tea he makes, Martha?
Martha Careful (10-Jun) : Turns out he like older women
Martha Careful (10-Jun) : I wasn't supposed to say anything, but yes the word is out and we are happy 😂😂😂
Mucky Tundra (10-Jun) : I might be late on this but Aaron Rodgers is now married
Mucky Tundra (10-Jun) : Well he can always ask his brother for pointers
Zero2Cool (10-Jun) : Bo Melton taking some reps at CB as well as WR
Zero2Cool (10-Jun) : key transactions coming today at 3pm that will consume more cap in 2025
Zero2Cool (9-Jun) : Jaire played in just 34 of a possible 68 games since the start of the 2021 season
Zero2Cool (9-Jun) : reported, but not expected to practice
Zero2Cool (9-Jun) : Jenkins has REPORTED for mandatory camp
Zero2Cool (9-Jun) : I really thought he'd play for Packers.
buckeyepackfan (9-Jun) : Packers releasing Jaire Alexander.
Mucky Tundra (8-Jun) : (Context: he wants his defense to create turnovers)
Mucky Tundra (8-Jun) : Giants DC Shane Bowen tells players to “be a damn pirate."
dfosterf (6-Jun) : Semper fi !
Cheesey (6-Jun) : This is why I have so much respect for those that have gone through battles
Cheesey (6-Jun) : I can't even imagine what that would have been like
wpr (6-Jun) : "Come on, you sons of bitches. Do you want to live forever?"
wpr (6-Jun) : Facing a line of machine guns 2 time medal of Honor recipient, First Sergeant Dan Daly told his men,
wpr (6-Jun) : Another detachment went into the Belleau Wood.
wpr (6-Jun) : On the 6th the Marines took Hill 142 but suffered terrible losses.
wpr (6-Jun) : It’s time to remember dfoster’s Marine brothers in Belleau Wood. The battle went on from June 1-26. Nearly 10,000 casualties.
packerfanoutwest (6-Jun) : Nick Collins and Morgan Burnett have signed with the PACK
packerfanoutwest (6-Jun) : he won't be wearing #12, maybe he will wear number two
packerfanoutwest (6-Jun) : He will fail this season, should have retired
Mucky Tundra (5-Jun) : Thus the cycle of Hall of Fame Packer QBs going to the Jets and then the Vikings is broken
bboystyle (5-Jun) : Rodgers to steelers on 1 year contract
Zero2Cool (5-Jun) : It's the cycle of civilizations. Get lazier, lazier, softer, softer and vanish.
Martha Careful (5-Jun) : great point. every aspect of society, including art, culture and sports has degraded.
dfosterf (4-Jun) : Green Bay sweep meant something to society about stopping pure excellence. We have the tush push now
dfosterf (4-Jun) : We old Martha.
Martha Careful (4-Jun) : *front four
Martha Careful (4-Jun) : Re frout four, I wish we had some Green "People Eaters" or a fearsome foursome
dfosterf (4-Jun) : *directions*
dfosterf (4-Jun) : Just don't ask him for driving direct
dfosterf (4-Jun) : Jim Marshall was an all-time great DE for the Purple People Eaters. Didn't like him. That's a compliment. RIP
Zero2Cool (3-Jun) : ooppppss
Zero2Cool (3-Jun) : “Kenny Clark played all of last season hurt by the way and got surgery to fix it in January”
Mucky Tundra (3-Jun) : @ByRyanWood How much did the injury affect him last fall? “A lot.”
Mucky Tundra (3-Jun) : @ByRyanWood Kenny Clark said he had foot surgery in January. Injured his foot in opener against Eagles and played through it all year.
Zero2Cool (3-Jun) : Golden is wearing guardian cap again. I bet he plays with it on too.
Mucky Tundra (3-Jun) : All the stuff I'm reading from Lions fans are pointing at his toe; he more or less has permanent turf toe in one of his big toes
dfosterf (3-Jun) : Kenny played through it, and a shame he gets little credit for that, imo
dfosterf (3-Jun) : Big men. I hope it's not the undoing of Kenny Clark
dfosterf (3-Jun) : Probably his toe. Pretty much a great center. Toe injuries are brutal to bigen
Mucky Tundra (2-Jun) : Lions All-Pro C Frank Ragnow retires
Please sign in to use Fan Shout
2025 Packers Schedule
Sunday, Sep 7 @ 3:25 PM
LIONS
Thursday, Sep 11 @ 7:15 PM
COMMANDERS
Sunday, Sep 21 @ 12:00 PM
Browns
Sunday, Sep 28 @ 7:20 PM
Cowboys
Sunday, Oct 12 @ 3:25 PM
BENGALS
Sunday, Oct 19 @ 3:25 PM
Cardinals
Sunday, Oct 26 @ 7:20 PM
Steelers
Sunday, Nov 2 @ 12:00 PM
PANTHERS
Monday, Nov 10 @ 7:15 PM
EAGLES
Sunday, Nov 16 @ 12:00 PM
Giants
Sunday, Nov 23 @ 12:00 PM
VIKINGS
Thursday, Nov 27 @ 12:00 PM
Lions
Sunday, Dec 7 @ 12:00 PM
BEARS
Sunday, Dec 14 @ 3:25 PM
Broncos
Friday, Dec 19 @ 11:00 PM
Bears
Friday, Dec 26 @ 11:00 PM
RAVENS
Saturday, Jan 3 @ 11:00 PM
Vikings
Recent Topics
1h / Green Bay Packers Talk / Mucky Tundra

11h / Random Babble / Martha Careful

18h / Green Bay Packers Talk / Zero2Cool

19h / Green Bay Packers Talk / beast

19h / Green Bay Packers Talk / beast

11-Jun / Green Bay Packers Talk / beast

10-Jun / Green Bay Packers Talk / Martha Careful

10-Jun / Green Bay Packers Talk / Zero2Cool

7-Jun / Green Bay Packers Talk / Mucky Tundra

6-Jun / Green Bay Packers Talk / beast

5-Jun / Green Bay Packers Talk / beast

5-Jun / Green Bay Packers Talk / beast

1-Jun / Green Bay Packers Talk / wpr

29-May / Green Bay Packers Talk / Martha Careful

27-May / Green Bay Packers Talk / Zero2Cool

Headlines
Copyright © 2006 - 2025 PackersHome.com™. All Rights Reserved.