Chiefs coach Andy Reid thinks kickoff rule changes are a slippery slope

Andy Reid isn’t a big fan of the new fair catch rule on kickoffs, although the Chiefs were one of the teams that approved the tweak.

In fact Reid was grousing about the rule, which was approved by NFL owners earlier this week, during a press availability.

“I don’t know,” Reid told reporters. “We’ll have to go through all that. My thing is, ‘Where does it stop?’ Right?

“So you start taking pieces [away] — and we’ll see how this goes — but you don’t want to take too many pieces away. You’ll be playing flag football.”

No Andy Reid, It’s not quite flag football. But the rule tweak continues to make the kickoff return a near non-factor in games. Here’s what it does. If a returner fair catches a kickoff between the end zone and the 25, the offense receives the ball at the 25. The change basically neutralizes the pop up/sky ball kick, turning the recent trend into a strategic relic. Teams already were less likely to attempt a return. Recent stats show that 60 percent of the kicks result in touchbacks. The average starting field position the 24.3 yardline. So giving teams the 25 seems like a negligible change.

The NFL does think the rule tweak can have a big impact on preventing concussions. These sorts of head injuries happen at a rate twice as high on kickoffs as your typical offensive or defensive play. The league projects the new rule would drop returns to about 31 percent. And such a drop could cut the concussion rate by 15 percent.

On Andy Reid’s watch last season, the Chiefs didn’t have a dynamic kick return. They ranked 29th in the NFL with an average return of only 19.22 yards. Given they won a Super Bowl, no one is complaining about kickoffs.

The NFL tabled a vote on the rule change back in March. And it very nearly didn’t pass this week. Sports Illustrated reported that the vote was 26-5-1. Any change needs approval from 24 teams. Commissioner Roger Goodell reportedly lobbied a few teams to push the total to at least 24. One of those coaches who flipped from no to yes was Sean Payton.

In the end, the Ravens, Patriots, Bengals, Bears and Lions said no.

I'm told there were 12-14 no's in that room Monday. As we wrote last week, Bill Belichick, John Harbaugh and Dan Campbell supported the ST coaches' efforts, so no surprise their owners had their backs. Sean Payton was another who backed the STCs—Denver was one Goodell flipped.

— Albert Breer (@AlbertBreer) May 24, 2023

Goodell then explained his support for the change in public comments.

“The data is very clear about the higher rate of injury on that play,” Goodell said. “We’ve been talking about it for several years. We have not made a lot of progress on this play. This was a step that we think was appropriate to address that. But we have a lot more work to be done about how we continue to evolve going forward. Can we continue to keep this play in an exciting way but more importantly a safe way?”

The change is like a test. It’ll last the season then be reevaluated. So coaches like Andy Reid can see whether the game truly is turning into a more ostentatious flag football league,