Kickoff returns still rare in NFL; Detroit Lions' Dave Fipp says it's not worth the gamble

If the first game of the 2024 NFL season was any indication, teams will treat the new kickoff rule just like the old one and err on the side of kicking touchbacks.

Of the 11 kickoffs in Thursday’s Kansas City Chiefs-Baltimore Ravens game, just two resulted in returns.

The Chiefs put all six of their kickoffs into, or through the back of, the end zone, while the Ravens kicked three touchbacks and set two up for two returns, both of which resulted in gains past the 30-yard line (though one of those possessions started inside the 20 after a penalty).

Detroit Lions special teams coordinator Dave Fipp acknowledged Thursday the new kickoff rule likely would result in a high volume of touchbacks.

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“The easiest way I can explain it is if you place a $100 bet — not that we like talking betting here — but if you place a $100 bet and you broke even if the ball went to the 30 — that’s where the touchback goes — well, for every yard, you stop them in front of the 30, you get a buck back,” Fipp said. “I would say it’s hard to get 10 bucks back on that play and tackling them at the 20, but there’s 70 yards that way that you might give up if it goes the other way, so it’s like this risk/reward thing.

“And the biggest challenge with the play is, if you’re asking me would I love to play every one of them out? I would love to play every single one of them out, but at the end of the day, our job really is to try to win a football game, so when you have the team approach in mind, then I think that changes your decision-making a little bit.”

The NFL overhauled its kickoffs rules this offseason in an effort to create a safer play with fewer high-speed collisions that would encourage more returns.

The kickoff, historically, has been a high injury-rate play, and last year, only about 22% of kickoffs were returned league-wide.

On Thursday, 18.2% of the game’s kickoffs were returned.

“I think there’s going to be a combination of things, maybe like catch them off guard, maybe you have a special return for a special situation, like you’re saying, ‘We’re going to bring it out, no matter what.’ If you’re looking at the end of the half, you definitely like your odds of coming out with the ball,” Fipp said. “It’s going to depend a little bit on who you’re playing and how you match up with that group also, who their returners are, all that stuff. So I think there’s a lot still in play with the play.

“I think the league said that numbers (in the preseason) were on average, the drive start was the 28.8, so you’re talking about fighting for 1.2 yards with the chance to give up a lot, so that makes it more advantageous for the return side and less likely for the kick team to be kicking a million returns.”

Under the new rules, teams kick off from their own 35-yard line, but the coverage unit lines up in a stationary position at the receiving team's 40.

Return teams must align at least nine men in the setup zone between the 30- and 35-yard lines, with up to two returners in the landing zone between the goal line and 20-yard line.

Touchbacks are marked at the 30, fair catches are not allowed in the field of play and no one other than the kicker and return men can move until the ball is fielded or hits the ground.

While some have suggested moving touchbacks to the 35-yard line to encourage more returns, NFL officials have said that almost certainly won’t happen in-season, as the league wants to evaluate a year’s worth of data before making any permanent decisions on a rule that was passed for one season only.

Fipp said the Lions experimented with a variety of kickoffs in the preseason to try and “come up with a way to cover it and get them tackled down there deep.”

He said they found a way “we feel great about going into” Sunday’s season opener against the Los Angeles Rams, but admitted “it’s a challenge to get the guy tackled deep is what everybody’s found out I think.”

Dave Birkett is the author of the new book, " Detroit Lions : An Illustrated Timeline." Preorder it now from Reedy Press .

Contact him at dbirkett@freepress.com . Follow him on X and Instagram at @davebirkett.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Kickoff returns still rare in NFL; Detroit Lions' Dave Fipp says it's not worth the gamble