If you watched Week 1 of the 2025 NFL season, you probably noticed something that you haven't seen much over the past few years: kickoff returns. A lot of them. In fact, more than 75% of the kickoffs that happened in Week 1 resulted in a return. That is a dramatic change, and the league has some recent rule changes to thank for that.

The move of the touchback to the 35-yard line caused a huge rise in the NFL’s Week 1 return rate…. https://t.co/eZPJ2O8GMz — Kevin Seifert (@SeifertESPN) September 9, 2025

The new touchback rule has changed the kickoff game

There was a point in time where it seemed like the NFL was trying to do away with the kickoff due to the high rate of injuries that were suffered on the play, as well as the fact that kickers had become so good at booming the ball t

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