The Josh Innes Show - The NFL Kickoff Rule Is Working..Good.

Episode Date: September 11, 2025

I love the NFL Kickoff Rule. I loved it last year. But, making the penalty for a touchback 5 more yards appears to have changed the game. We want more returns. We want special teams to thrive. The NFL has been at the forefront of innovation and that's part of the reason why the league thrives. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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land rover.ca. So if you listen to the podcast at all, you know that I'm a big fan of trying to find ways to innovate old sports, old elements of sports. and make them modernized and more fun and don't be afraid to take chances and try things, right? I enjoy that. I think innovation is important in sport, especially in this era we're in now where sports doesn't just hold your attention like it used to.

You've got a thousand other things you could be doing with your phones and everything else. So it's hard to keep people locked in on something. So why not try new things, right? Let's play a couple commercials and let's get into the innovation in sports because the kickoff rule appears to be working in the NFL. Hey, it's Josh. The NFL season is rolling along,

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See sportsbook.draftkings.com slash promotions. NFL Sunday ticket offer for new subscribers only and auto renews until Kansas. digital games and commercial use excluded restrictions apply additional NFL Sunday ticket terms at youtube.com slash go slash NFL Sunday ticket slash terms limited time offer You know there have been a lot of people who have criticized have been skeptical of the kickoff rule like people shit on it last year the new kickoff rule And I know that they've adjusted it and kind of change things up a little bit But as far as big picture it's been one of those things that's helped the game Remember, how long ago was it that they decided that the extra point should be longer?

I forgot how many years ago they did that. It's been a while now. And I remember I was one of the people that was like, come on, who gives a shit? Just kick the extra point and let's go. But now what you've done is you've taken a touchdown and you've taken that period of time between the touchdown and the kickoff, which was nothing, and you've made it something. I mean, let's look at this. Was it the Tampa game on Sunday that it looked like Tampa was going to take a four point? point lead in that game. I think they were like a three and a half point favorite. But they were

going to take a four point lead, which would have changed the complexion of the last drive of the game. But they missed the extra point because it's not a chip shot. So they missed the extra point. Instead of being up four, they were up three. And that gave Atlanta a chance to get themselves into field goal range and obviously who missed the kick anyway. But like that changes things. That was a brilliant innovation. And it's simple but brilliant. And sometimes the simplest things should be considered brilliant and they should be acknowledged for being brilliant, right? I always told this to my boss Gavin, right? If you look at what we did at 610 in Houston, and I know that a lot of my references are to,

you know, hey, here's how I'm going to take this sports reference and turn it into something I experienced in radio. But this is very true and it holds true. That radio station was a sleeping giant radio station that had just been run into the ground like they had shitty shows on. Those shows were like interviewing golf guys, like not even like Tiger Woods. We're talking about golf coaches at like 7.30 in the morning. They were interviewing the Rice football coach.

They were just interviewing all these people that no one would care about, and the rating sucked. So Gavin comes in and makes a couple of easy tweaks. Like, hey, guess what? You're not interviewing the fucking Rice coach interview anymore. And you're not talking to a fucking golf dude at 9 in the morning anymore. And we're going to call ourselves Houston Sports Leader, and we're going to fucking take ownership of sports radio in this town. A couple of easy tweaks that were made. Now, he gets credit for making those tweaks.

They were simple tweaks, but he made those tweaks, and the station became a powerhouse from, like, 2019 to 2009 to 2013. So he gets credit for that. These seem like easy changes. Like moving the extra point back now is considered brilliant, and it's made the game more exciting. And it seems easy now, but at the time, there was pushback to that, right? But anyhow, here's some of the details on the kick returns in week one. A modest change to the NFL's kickoff rules made a massive. impact on week one, producing the highest single-week return rate in 15 years.

In the league's first slate of regular season games since the touchback was moved to the 35-yard line, teams returned 118 of 156 kickoffs for a 75% return rate. The last time the NFL had a higher return rate for a single week was week 17 of the 2010 season. But that's the thing. You have to make it a punishable thing. You have to punish a team for kicking a touchback, right? So, I would move it up to the 40. Like, I'd really make it difficult for these guys. Let's make it fun, man. Let's make it a situation where a touchback is like akin to death in the NFL. The 35-yard line's fine. That five yards makes a difference compared to the 25, the 30, the 35, whatever. But if you moved it up to the 40, you'd see a ton of

returns. I loved the diet. I liked it last year. Like, I didn't think it was as bad, but obviously they didn't mind kicking the extra point. It's amazing how five yards makes that much of difference in the minds of coaches, right? Like the 30-yard line versus the 35. But part of that is, like, if you're 15 yards from the 50, you're really only 20, 22, 23 yards from being in position to at least try a field goal versus the 30 you're dealing with, you know, five extra yards. So I get it, but it is fascinating that five yards, all of five yards, makes that much of a difference. Last weekend's games were particularly rare compared to the other recent opening weeks. The last time the NFL had a return rate higher than 50 percent in week one was also in

2010. The NFL overhauled its kickoff prior to the 2024 season, more than a decade of declining return rates caused largely by rule changes that incentivized teams to pursue touchbacks and lower the number of concussions and other injuries. In 2023, only 21.8% of kickoffs were returned, the fewest since at least 2000 and likely in the modern history of the game. I don't want special teams to go away from. the game. I hate that you have to tell the other team that you're kicking it on side. That is stupid. Like, special teams are the most fun. This is a dude that watched the shit out of the Chiefs in 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005. Between 03 and 05, Dante Hall had to have had

like 20 kick return and punt return touchdowns. Dude was a fucking savage, right? And that was fun. Special teams should still be an important part of the game, something that you should focus on and something that can win or lose you a game and not just because you're kicking field goals and not because of all that shit. It should also be because you can change the game with a big return. And I'm glad that we're seeing 75% of the kick return. I have been a fan of the idea of the dynamic kickoff since they did it.

And you know what else I'm a big believer in because I talk about it all the time on here is instead of the onside kick, which has next to no chance of converting, I want to see the onside kick become a pass. And that's been pitched pretty often, and I think that would be awesome. I want to see the on-side kick be like you have to convert a 20-yard pass. It would be an exciting play. It'd be a dramatic play.

Teams would have to kind of come up and have that special play in their bag. Just like you have special two-point conversion plays, you'd have to have a, all right, just like imagine the strategy. Like every week in practice, you'd be forced to go in and be like, all right, guys, just in case we are in a situation where we have to kick an on-side kick. Or what if it's not even in a situation where you have to? What if you're just really feeling yourself and you want to stack up the points? And you're like, listen, we're up by seven right now. There's 10 minutes to go in the game. I think Joe Burrow can complete a 20-yard or to, I don't know, to T. Higgins.

So let's try it. Fuck it. If we get this first down here, we can run out the clock. Like, it opens up different opportunities. And I understand there's blowback and pushback to a lot of things like that. But fuck it, man. You'd watch it and you'd go, this is fucking great. It would happen one time and it would convert one fucking time and you'd go, holy shit, this is awesome.

It would take just one successful conversion. Just like with the extra points being longer, it takes one big missed extra point that changes the outcome of a game for you to go, shit. Like, just like, like, and I'm not telling you anything you don't know. But you tie a game after a touchdown with one second to go on the clock. You still have a lengthy extra point to hit. to end the game. Like, that's exciting. That is brilliant.

Shit that we looked at and kind of were like, whatever, a couple years ago. We now look at it and go, that's fucking brilliant. And it is revolutionized the game and changed it. And it's eliminated meaningless plays in the sport. The kickoff had become a meaningless play. Now it's not.

And 75% of the returns are happening. That's good. And it keeps a focus on keeping good kick returners and guys that can make a difference for you. That's fucking awesome. other sports need to innovate. I get that baseball's tried to innovate and the pitch clock has helped move the game along faster. But there are some games that,

like you're talking about C ball, hitball. There's only so much you can do to innovate the game because somebody's got a C ball and somebody's got a hit ball. There's only so much you can do. As you know, I'm a big proponent of the Golden App Bat Rule. I would love to see that come to fruition. I would love to see a situation where in the ninth inning or any time during the game, once during the game,

you can have one designated special at bat where you can put up whoever you want and then they're right back to their spot in the lineup. It's just a bonus at bat for that person. I think that'd be fucking awesome. I love that. But then you see basketball, and basketball does them shit. So now they're not punishing players for – and this kind of is actually kind of – it kind of is anti what I've been saying about innovation,

because now you should get the opportunity to see more half-court heaves and people find those exciting. But they've officially made it official where your stats will not be net. negatively impacted if you try a half-court heave, which is stupid. You attempted a shot, it should, but whatever. People care way too much about their stats. Who gives a shit? But maybe this will give you more end-of-the-quartered-lings shots and half-court shots. I mean, they're taking them anyway.

They just wait until the clock hits zero and they attempt them. Now they might actually count. The only person I see shoot those who doesn't care about a shooting percentage is the Joker. That motherfucker will sit there and just grab it at like the opposite free throw line and just heave at 70 feet and it'll get close. But at least it's something. Like, it's a small thing. I find it to be petty and stupid that these guys are like,

I don't want my stats to be that. Like, you might attempt three of those a year. Like, oh, no, my three-point percentage has gone down by a tick because I attempted a long half-court three. But I think that's dumb. But at least people might take more shots now because it doesn't impact their statistics. But how long is it until they're like,

Well, if you shoot any three-pointer beyond the timeline, that also doesn't count against your statistics. Like, why is it just because it's at the end of the quarter? What's stopping them? Like, what if Steph Curry, like, every time he shoots a three from the logo, it doesn't actually count against his statistics? I don't know. All right, but good job on the NFL. I like that. Keep innovating.

Innovate or die.