Since we’re in a bye week, let’s take the time to look at the league-wide landscape of the NFL’s new kickoff return. So far, the league has had more kickoff returns through four weeks than any previous year in NFL history. As Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin, a member of the competition committee, put it, the new touchback penalty “is doing exactly what we intended to do.”

This offseason, the NFL moved the penalty for kicks into the end zone or short of the landing zone on the dynamic kickoff, penalizing both kicks that go too long or too short, from the 30-yard line to the 35-yard line. Since then, according to Sports Info Solutions, the touchback rate has dropped from 65 percent in 2024 to just 17 percent in 2025.

Per the study from SIS, “non-normal kicks” have also quadruple

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