New Kickoff Rule Flaw Exposed: Defenses Targeting Kickers during PAT Attempts without Consequences?

On Friday, a potential flaw in the new kickoff rule was brought to light which could result in defenses targeting kickers during PAT attempts without any consequences. This is because penalties on the PAT attempt only affect the spot of the kick, and not the configuration of the other 21 players. As such, there is no downside for defenses to aggressively block an extra point. After posting the story and discussing it on Friday’s PFT Live, some people believe that teams may have the option to enforce a penalty on the PAT attempt after the kickoff. For example, if roughing the kicker happens during the PAT attempt, the kicking team could back up their offense from 30 to 15 before starting their next drive. However, according to the NFL, there is currently no option to enforce penalties after a kickoff.

The special teams working group will continue to work with the Officiating department to make any necessary approved rulings and additional language to support this new rule. This language will be vetted with clubs and circulated for comment before being finalized at a May meeting for all members. In theory, this process could be used to address concerns about targeting kickers during PAT attempts. However, giving kicking teams an option to enforce roughing on a PAT attempt after a kick raises complications, especially if receiving teams return kicks for touchdowns. This could result in taking away points that were rightfully earned by kicking teams.

This situation highlights how rushed the implementation of this new kickoff rule has been, as more time should have been spent considering its potential problems and finding solutions. Additionally, it presents a significant challenge – how do you prevent defenses from blocking every possible extra point? At present, there doesn’t seem like a simple or effective solution to this issue