https://x.com/SeifertESPN/status/1963235939989303387
Posted on 09/04/2025 12:47:07 PM PDT by Red Badger
The NFL opens the 2025 season Thursday, when the Philadelphia Eagles host the Dallas Cowboys (8:20 p.m. ET, NBC), and with it comes an assortment of rule changes and points of emphasis that will undoubtedly enter the public discussion through the next five months.
The league has tweaked its kickoff, hoping to generate a much higher return rate. Its competition committee has worked to make overtime fairer, employed technology to support its on-field officials and warned players that it will be vigilant in disciplining them for violations of the league's sportsmanship rules.
And after months of debate, the league decided that the Eagles' tush push short-yardage play would remain legal -- for at least one more season. A proposal to ban it fell two votes shy of approval.
Here is a guide for what fans need to know, with comments from the NFL executive vice president Jeff Miller, who oversees player health and safety, and NFL officiating rules analyst Walt Anderson.
Kickoff touchbacks moved to 35-yard line
In 2024, the NFL made dramatic rules changes to incentivize returning kickoffs. However, the leaguewide return rate of 32.8% was still the league's lowest since at least 2000, and the touchback rate of 64.3% was the league's highest over the same period.
This spring, they made those rules permanent and -- after seeing data that showed it had helped power a 43% reduction in concussion rates on kickoff plays -- owners agreed to move the touchback from the 30-yard line to the 35. In theory, that shift will further incentivize the kicking team to put the ball in play -- and generate a return from the receiving team -- rather than drill it deep in the end zone for a touchback.
Will 5 yards really change decision-making? Denver Broncos special teams coordinator Darren Rizzi, a key member of the special teams advisory group that developed this structure for the league, believes it will.
Last season, when teams kicked returnable balls, the average starting drive began at the 28.8-yard line. Coaches for the kicking team were willing to concede the 1.2 additional yards to spot the ball at the 30-yard line for a touchback, but Rizzi said: "I don't think teams are just going to give up [nearly] 7 yards" with the touchback now at the 35.
According to ESPN Research, teams that started drives at the 30-yard line during the past 10 seasons averaged 1.97 points on those possessions. When their drives began at the 35-yard line, that point average jumped to 2.21 points. That's a 12% increase in scoring that coaches would have to factor in if they want to keep kicking touchbacks.
What replay officials can and can't do
Replay officials who work onsite at NFL stadiums now have a longer list of penalties they can overturn, if there is clear and obvious video evidence that the penalized action did not occur. That now includes hits to the head and neck of a defenseless player and horse-collar tackles. Here is the full list:
Replay officials cannot, however, call for a flag to be thrown if the on-field officials didn't -- even if there is clear video evidence that one should have been. The reason, Anderson and other league officials have said, is that owners want to maintain the aesthetic of officiating the game on the field. Giving replay officials responsibility for throwing flags when necessary, they say, is reofficiating the play from afar.
Slight changes for onside kicks
Teams can now declare their intent to attempt an onside kick at any point in the game; previously it was only in the fourth quarter. The NFL also tweaked the alignment of the kickoff team in hopes of giving it a better chance to recover an onside kick. Instead of lining up 1 yard behind the kicking line, the 10 non-kickers on the kickoff team can put their front foot on the line itself. "We're going to see if that ends up elevating that return rate," Anderson said.
Because of other changes made to the kickoff, the onside kick recovery percentage during the past three seasons is 5.4%. The league would like to raise that number into the historical range of 10% and 12%, Anderson said.
Guaranteed possession in overtime, except ...
The team that opens overtime on defense will get a possession even if the offensive team scores a touchdown on its opening drive. Previously, the first touchdown of overtime ended the game. The change aligns regular-season overtime with postseason overtime, which the NFL adjusted in 2022, except that regular-season overtime will remain 10 minutes, compared to the 15-minute postseason overtime.
There are some occasions that would prevent the second team's offense from getting to take the field. If the 10-minute clock expires during, or by the end of, the opening possession, the game will conclude. And if the team that kicks off to start overtime scores a safety on the opening possession, the game is also over.
The rule could lead to some changes in game strategy, including whether to take the ball or play defense after winning the overtime coin toss.
Here is the full list of plays and penalties that the NFL's in-stadium replay official can assist the referee on. Those in red are new for 2025. pic.twitter.com/xiF2ypARoC
— Kevin Seifert (@SeifertESPN) September 3, 2025
Point of emphasis on sportsmanship rules
Officials will be looking to penalize certain celebrations and other behavior that the NFL said rose significantly in 2024. According to Anderson, taunting -- defined in the rulebook as an act that could engender ill will between teams -- was up 55% last season compared to 2023. Unsportsmanlike gestures rose by 133%.
Those gestures, now formalized in the rulebook, include: "Any violent gesture, which shall include, but not be limited to, a throat slash, simulating firing or brandishing a gun, or using the 'nose wipe' gesture, or an act that is sexually suggestive or offensive."
Said Anderson: "There are plenty of ways for players to be able to celebrate, and they come up with some very unique and often entertaining ways. So we want them to focus on those and not the inappropriate areas."
Enforcing no timeouts rule
Prior to this season, officials were instructed to ignore timeout requests from teams in instances when they had already used all of their timeouts or were attempting to call a second timeout without a snap in between. If an official inadvertently granted the timeout, there would be a delay of game penalty.
This season, the NFL rulebook now calls for a delay of game penalty any time a team "requests" an ineligible timeout, not just when an official inadvertently grants one.
"It's not going to be one of those, 'Yeah, I heard you but ignored you this time, but another time we didn't ignore it,'" referee Brad Allen said.
Tush push: still legal
Fans would be excused if they believed the tush push had been outlawed, considering how much it was in the news during the offseason. But the NFL and a group of teams that opposed its use were unable to generate the necessary support to ban it. League officials remain concerned that the play -- popularized by the Eagles, in which a player in the backfield pushes a quarterback in short-yardage situations to add extra power to a quarterback sneak -- is unsafe. Some teams consider it a play better suited for rugby than American football.
The drama was intense for a play that occurred 101 times in 2024, roughly 0.3% of all scrimmage plays around the league. The Eagles ran it 39 times and got first downs on 33 of them, including 11 touchdowns.
The debate is not likely to fade away, especially if teams reach for new ways to try to stop it. In the 2024 NFC Championship Game, for instance, referee Shawn Hochuli announced that he had the right to award the Eagles a touchdown if the Washington Commanders defense continued jumping offside in an attempt to time the snap.
"I'm sure that it'll continue to be an ongoing topic of conversation both this season and in the offseason," the NFL's Miller said.
Virtual measurement
The NFL has installed six 8K Hawk-Eye cameras in each stadium to measure whether a ball has reached the line to gain to earn a first down. Software will then generate a virtual animation for broadcast viewers and fans in the stadium, in essence replacing the role of the "chain gang," the sideline officials who hold the first-down marker and chain. Officials will still spot the ball, however.
The primary benefit here is the potential reduction in the time it took to get the traditional chains on the field and execute the measurement. The chain gangs will remain on the sideline to provide a visual representation of the line of scrimmage and the line to gain, as well as to serve as a backup to the Hawk-Eye cameras if needed.
https://x.com/SeifertESPN/status/1963235939989303387
NFL PING!....................
the NFL homo kickoff is a sick joke ... there’s a much better and simpler way to improve kickoff yardage if that’s REALLY the goal: just move the kickoff ball further back by ten yards for the kickoff ...
> Teams can now declare their intent to attempt an onside kick at any point in the game <
I don’t follow the NFL anything like I used to. But I am curious. Why should a team have to declare their intent to attempt an onside kick at all?
While I lost interest before covid hit in 2020 I wish those who are still NFL fans to have a great season of watching it all. Have fun and enjoy.
I'm all for trying out any steps taken to reduce concussions & CTE.
I'll never forget Junior Seau.
The kicking team (other than the kicker) start on the receiving team’s 40 on a normal kickoff instead of behind their own 35 like it used to be or on an onside kick.
https://operations.nfl.com/the-rules/rules-changes/dynamic-kickoff-rule-explainer/
......Open handed slaps only from now on.
Here’s the rule I want to see.
One point for each doink on a Field Goal.
Because lining up is different than for a regular kickoff and may involve a different set of players............
I believe the 70 yard Field Goal will be set this year by the Jags and/or Cowboys kickers...................
I believe the 70 yard Field Goal will be set this year by the Jags and/or Cowboys kickers...................
And it will be in Denver.
And kickers will soon be the highest paid players if they can do it routinely.
I think it's because the players on the kicking team line up downfield across the midfield line for a "normal" kickoff. They aren't allowed to attempt an onside kick in that configuration because 10 of the 11 players on the kicking team are already 10+ yards downfield before the ball is kicked.
Well, the air is thinner there!..................
Here is a rule I want: if the kick off goes thru the uprights then it is worth 1 point!
Instead of an onside kick, I would have the option to go for the two-point conversion from the 5-yard line instead of the 2-yard line, and if you convert, you keep the ball and start from the 30 yard-line. So basically to keep the ball you must score a TD, a Field Goal does no good.
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