Before an entertaining Hall of Fame Game between the Houston Texans and Chicago Bears was cut short due to inclement weather, we got our first looks at the NFL's new dynamic kickoff.
The clubs combined for eight kickoffs in the 21-17 Bears win that ended with 3:31 left in the third quarter. The longest of the eight was returned to the 31-yard line. Three were brought back to the 26. One was a touchback that came out to the 30.
The average starting position was the 25.6-yard line.
It's just one game, but there was a noticeable lack of explosive plays. It even caught Bears Hall of Fame returner Devin Hester off guard.
"I'm watching it, man, and I'm surprised that we're not seeing more big runs," he said during an in-game interview, via Awful Announcing. "You know, that's shocking. But hey, it's the first game. So I figure a lot of coaches are going to evaluate this game and try to figure out what they can do to get some more big plays. But right now -- it's kinda shaky right now. But who knows? The first game. We'll see."
The NFL dramatically redesigned the kickoff in hopes of jumpstarting a dying play after a record-low returns last season while hoping to keep injuries down.
On Thursday, each club had an illegal formation penalty called on a player moving early -- both were ultimately declined.
Despite the lack of big plays, some interesting concepts were already on display. On one return, a blocker pulled in an attempt to create a lane. The execution didn't work in this case, but you can see the ideas special teams coaches are mulling over as they test out the new formation. We'll likely see more tinkering in the preseason, although the really creative ideas will probably be held for the season opener.
"You have to figure it out, like, 'Hey, what is it going to look like?'" Bears coach Matt Eberflus said. "So, certainly, we've tried different things on the return team and different ways to attack on the cover team and putting different bodies in different spots. So, we're really just trying to figure it out, and I think that's where all coaches are. We're just trying to figure it out and do the best thing we can. And that's going to be ongoing through the whole season.
"You'll have to adjust. That's the way the NFL is."
