Onside kicks are a rare and exciting play in football that can change the momentum of a game. In recent years, however, the success rate of onside kicks has declined drastically due to rule changes aimed at player safety. This has led coaches and players to get creative with their onside kick strategies.
Before we dive into those strategies, let’s first understand what an onside kick is. An onside kick is when the kicking team attempts to recover the ball after it travels 10 yards from where it was kicked. If they successfully recover the ball, they regain possession and continue their offensive drive. If not, the receiving team gains possession at that spot.
The decline in success rates for traditional onside kicks began in 2018 when new rules were implemented requiring five players on each side of the kicker instead of allowing them to overload one side for better odds of recovery. Since then, success rates have plummeted from around 21% before the rule change to just 9% in 2019.
With these new rules making traditional onside kicks less effective, teams have started experimenting with alternative methods such as surprise onsides or pooch kicks. Surprise onsides involve catching the receiving team off guard by lining up as if you’re going to kick deep but then attempting an onside instead. Pooch kicks involve kicking short and high so that your coverage team can swarm downfield quickly and potentially recover the ball before it reaches a returner.
Another option being explored is using non-kickers for field goal-style attempts instead of relying solely on your kicker’s leg strength for distance or accuracy. For example, last season during an important divisional matchup against Kansas City Chiefs coach Matt Rhule deployed his punter Michael Palardy who had never attempted a field goal in his career until this moment; he executed it perfectly which helped keep his Carolina Panthers alive late into a tight game against one of NFL’s best teams.
One of the most successful onside kick attempts in recent years came during the 2019 season when the Dallas Cowboys successfully executed a “watermelon” kick against the New York Giants. With this strategy, the ball is kicked so it spins like a watermelon seed, making it difficult for returners to handle. The Cowboys recovered the ball and went on to win the game.
Despite these creative strategies, many teams are still struggling with finding ways to effectively recover onside kicks. As a result, there has been talk about further rule changes that could make onside kicks more viable without compromising player safety.
Overall, while traditional onside kicks may be less effective than they used to be due to rule changes aimed at player safety, teams have found innovative ways to increase their chances of success by using alternative methods such as surprise onsides or pooch kicks. It will be interesting to see how coaches continue to adapt and evolve their strategies around this exciting play in football.