Photo: Nic Antaya
Detroit Lions HC Dan Campbell is known for his risky play calling and penchant for doing the unexpected, and he called for an onside kick early in the 4th quarter of their loss to the Buffalo Bills yesterday. Under the new kickoff rules, he was required to announce his intention which completely negated any advantage he might have gained by catching the Bills off guard. We have lost a key element of strategy in exchange for a highly debatable improvement in player safety.
Dan Patrick: “You should be able to surprise the opposition...That’s the problem with the rule. ‘Hey, we would normally be surprising you. Surprise! But we can’t surprise you.’ It’s like when you tell somebody there’s a surprise party for them and then they have to go in and act surprised. So they basically just said to the Buffalo Bills, ‘Hey, surprise, we’re gonna have an onside kick with twelve minute to go!’ They gotta fix that.”