Is it just me or are a lot kicking teams just booting kicks into the endzone and giving the 25 to the receiving teams?
I read the 25 yard adjustment(from 20 yard line) was mostly for "safety"
"(2016)place for this year only on a trial basis -- kickoff touchbacks are brought out to the 25-yard line instead of the 20. The idea was to reduce the number of kickoff returns, and therefore the number of traumatic injuries that occur on a play in which high-speed collisions occur regularly.
The thinking was a receiving team was more likely to take a touchback on a kick into the end zone knowing the ball would be spotted at the 25."
Now that I "get" but to me it looks like a few teams(Giants too) are just booting it straight to 25, with no chance for other to return. Is that because we don't trust our ST players to stop a returner?
We can't seem to return it beyond there anyway and there are times we are pushed way back because we muffed the kick, was penalized or simply couldn't return it.
I think they should just start with teams at the 25.
I don't know about on-side kicks though. I guess it would be the same as telling a ref that you want to go for two (ball at 3) vs. XP.
The problem is, if you eliminate returns, you eliminate some of the most exciting plays in the game. They've already basically crippled onside kick attempts — and onside kicks are fun and exciting.
I think pro football has gotten somewhat worse as a spectator sport due to all the tinkering without getting a lot safer.
There's an overarching problem that the game has become very dangerous due to the size and speed of the players, and most measures to reduce the danger have either slowed the game down, made it less exciting, or both. I don't know if there's a solution to that, but if there is, it probably requires some major steps forward in protective equipment, joint support/protection, brain protection, etc.
The league should probably be investing in that, if they aren't already. The teams spend vast sums of money on injured players, not to mention salaries for their replacements.