World gets first look at new NFL rule in HoF game
The world got its first look at the NFL’s new kickoff rule during Thursday night’s Hall of Fame game between the Texans and Bears.
And it really was the first time the world – including NFL teams – got a chance to see what the new kickoff rule, which puts 10 players on the coverage team at the 40-yard line and nine players on the return team between the 30 and 35, in action.
Nobody, including NFL players and coaches, knew exactly what to expect.
“There are a lot of unknowns, uncertainties,” said Steelers linebacker Tyler Matakevich. “I know Thursday for the Hall of Fame game, a lot of guys were watching, trying to figure out what the heck is going on out there.”
With fair catch and touchback rules that simply gave return teams the ball at the 25 last season, kickoffs were all but regulated out of the game in 2023. The Steelers had just 18 kicks returned against them all season after having 47 returned against them in 2022.
That’s a significant difference.
But the league wanted fewer returns because of the high-speed collisions that occurred on kickoffs previously, leading to concussions. That worked, as there were just eight concussions on kickoffs in 2023 after 13 occurred in 2022, but at a cost. The kickoff was made a non-entity.
Will the new rule add some excitement back to the game?
Perhaps.
“People that watch it to start are not going to know what they’re looking at,” said Steelers special teams coordinator Danny Smith, who was one of a handful of coaches who helped come up with the new rule at the behest of the league.
“It is a complex rule. It is a vast change. It’s very interesting. There is going to be more action. It’s in. You’ve got to love it. There is no complaining. It’s a rule. The competition committee, the owners put this in. We’ve got to learn it and excel at it.”
• It was no coincidence the Steelers signed Cordarrelle Patterson, perhaps the best kick returner in NFL history, the day the NFL voted to approve the new kickoff rule.
If returns are being legislated back into the game, you might as well have a guy who has an NFL-record nine kickoff returns for touchdowns in his career.
But even Patterson was affected by the lack of kickoffs in 2023.
In 14 games for Atlanta last season, Patterson had just seven returns as the Falcons returned just 14 kicks as a team.
Patterson has averaged 29.3 yards per kick return in his career.
• Kudos to Pirates GM Ben Cherrington for the deals he pulled off in the waning hours of Major League Baseball’s trade deadline.
They might not have been the blockbuster deals that some had hoped for, but they are ones that make the Pirates better – not just now, but in future seasons, as well.
Acquiring players such as outfielder Bryan De La Cruz and utility man Isiah Kiner-Falefa, the Pirates picked up players who could be big pieces of the team not just for the remainder of this season, but in future ones, as well. Both are under contract for 2025, with the team also having control over De La Cruz in 2026, as well.
For a team that seems well stocked in pitching, acquiring real Major League hitters to add to the lineup was a must.
• The 2024 Pony World Series, which starts later this week, will have quite the local feel to it. Not only will it feature Washington County, which will represent the Founders League as the host team, Mon Valley Pony won the Host Area Tournament.
That program has players from the Belle Vernon, Brownsville, Ringgold and Donora programs.
Ringgold’s program played in both the Mon Valley and Founders leagues this season and will be a full-time member of the Founders League in 2025, meaning its players will be eligible to try out for the host team along with players from the Bentworth, Beth-Center, Charleroi and California teams. Those programs all joined the Founders League this season on a probationary basis, giving the Founders League 21 teams and over 250 players in the league.
Mon Valley will play Palmview, Texas, the West Zone champion, in Game 1 of the World Series at 4:30 p.m. Friday. The winner advances to play Tainan City, Chinese Taipei at 5 p.m. Saturday.
Washington County, which made the finals last season, doesn’t play until Monday, Aug. 12, when it faces the winner of a Saturday game between Tijuana, Mexico and Bay County, Mich.
Dale Lolley hosts The Drive on Steelers Nation Radio and writes a Sunday column for the Observer-Reporter.