CANTON, Ohio — When Cairo Santos lined up to kick the ball from the 35-yard line in the Hall of Fame Game against the Texans on Thursday night, he was alone.
No teammates to his left or his right.
The veteran kicker could see them in the distance, though, on the opponent’s 40-yard line. The Texans return team was just five yards away. It looked different, especially with so much empty space on the field.
Instead of sprinting right when the ball is kicked, the kicking team and return team must wait to move until the ball is touched or hits in the landing zone.
[MARK CARMAN: Three takeaways from the Hall of Fame Game]
It’s counterintuitive to how the rest of the game is played and the unknown of this new kickoff showed in the Chicago Bears‘ 21-17 victory over the Houston Texans, which was ended in the third quarter due to the weather.
The Texans and Bears were each penalized for an illegal formation penalty with a member of each team leaving early on the kickoffs. The longest return of seven total in the game came from Bears receiver John Jackson, who had a 31-yard return to start the third quarter.
“It was good,” Jackson said. “It was a little different than usual. It hits a little faster. I noticed blocks started falling off a little bit quicker, so that was definitely different. You know, I liked it. I tried to do what I could. Maybe the last one I could’ve bounced outside and got that one, but I tried to do the most I could.”
Tight end Stephen Carlson was one of the members on the kickoff return unit in Thursday night’s game. He also felt the newness of the kickoff from a blocking perspective.
“It was quick,” Carlson said. “Everything happened very fast. We had a gameplan going into it. We knew things would be changing. We would be learning on the fly, and we already made some mid-game adjustments after the first kickoff cause we thought different stuff might work better. It’s still new. Obviously we will watch all of the film. I’m sure every team in league will be watching that film tonight and making some changes.
Next week we will see as the preseason goes on what is working and what is not working. I was thinking there would be a lot more bigger returns, which I don’t think there were that many tonight, so we’ll just see as it goes along.”
Thursday night’s game was the first time this new kickoff was actually run against an opponent, so it’s natural for the players to need time to adjust. Despite the kickoff being new, Jackson wouldn’t say anything surprised him about it.
“At the end of the day, it’s still kind of the same kickoff return,” Jackson said. “Like I said, just getting use to the speed and kind of like I said, blocks hitting a little faster.”
Tyler Scott, who returned two kicks for a total of 40 yards, had a big collision on his second attempt. But Scott explained why he even returned the kick in the first place.
“So, I would probably say in a regular game I’m going to take a knee, especially if it’s kicked in the end zone like that because we will get it at the 30,” Scott said. “Today, it’s the preseason. I like to try to at least give guys a chance that are trying to make the team. Just film and opportunities. Obviously these wins and losses don’t really matter, so that was just like take an opportunity and just see. What does it look like coming from this far back?”
It’ll be a learning process as the players get more reps in the return game, but Scott already can see some of the perks that come from this new kickoff.
“You kind of just got to make one cut and go, which I feel like there are benefits to that cause if one guy misses, you’re good,” Scott said. “At the same time, if you make the wrong cut, somebody is right there. But I also I think so far it kind of protects guys a little bit more. Guys are not getting a full head of steam coming down the field, taking shots on people. But I think for the most part it will work pretty good. I think it will get a lot of explosive plays.”
