NFL passes rule regarding kickoffs from the 50

The NFL has approved a rules change that will eliminate the kicking team’s incentive to intentionally kick the ball out of bounds when kicking off from the 50-yard line.

The new dynamic kickoff alignment, introduced in 2024, had an unintended consequence when there was a penalty enforced on the kickoff.

When teams kicked off from the 50, they routinely intentionally kicked the ball out of bounds. That gave the receiving team possession at the 25-yard line.

Now, the deliberate out-of-bounds kick will be replaced.

A kickoff from the 50 that lands in the end zone (and isn’t returned) or goes out of the end zone results in the receiving team getting the ball on its own 20.