Onside Kick

NFL Eyeing Elimination Of the Onside Kick

Justin Rimpi

It’s official. The onside kick, once the most thrilling, heart-stopping, hold-your-breath play in football, is on life support. The NFL, in its infinite wisdom, has tinkered with the kickoff rules so much that successfully recovering an onside kick is now about as likely as a kicker winning the MVP. Let’s be honest, it’s a dead play walking.

Remember the pure chaos? The ball bouncing unpredictably, a pile of humanity diving for it, and the stadium collectively gasped until a referee emerged from the scrum to signal possession. It was beautiful, unscripted drama. Now? It’s a telegraphed punch that everyone sees coming. The success rate has plummeted to near-extinction levels, turning a moment of last-ditch hope into a ceremonial turnover.

But fear not! The league’s bigwigs, led by NFL EVP Troy Vincent, have dusted off an old idea that might just bring the excitement back: the 4th-and-15 alternative.

Is the 4th-and-15 a Hail Mary Worth Answering?

So what is this magical solution? Instead of attempting the nearly impossible onside kick, a scoring team would get one shot to keep the ball. They’d face a 4th-and-15 from their own 25-yard line. Convert it, and the drive continues. Fail, and the opposing team takes over with fantastic field position.

Talk about pressure. Imagine your favorite quarterback, with the game on the line, needing to pull a 15-yard rabbit out of his helmet. It is the kind of do-or-die moment that creates legends. It replaces the randomness of a bouncing ball with pure, unadulterated skill and execution. Plus, it significantly reduces the number of high-speed collisions, which the league is always trying to do. It sounds like a win-win, right?

The Onside Kick Dilemma: Not Everyone Is on Board

Of course, not everyone is ready to pull the plug on the onside kick just yet. Traditionalists are screaming from the rooftops, accusing the league of turning the game into a glorified video game. And they might have a point.

One major concern is that this rule heavily favors teams with superstar quarterbacks and explosive offenses. Got Patrick Mahomes or Josh Allen? A 4th-and-15 sounds a lot more manageable. Got a rookie QB and a shaky offensive line? Good luck with that. It could create an even wider gap between the league’s haves and have-nots.

Then there’s the defense. They just got scored on, and now they have to trot right back out to defend a long-yardage play against a fired-up offense? It feels a little like punishment. And what about the special teams? This change would effectively neuter an entire phase of the game, turning kickers into glorified point-scorers and little else.

Final Thoughts

This is not the first time the 4th-and-15 idea has been floated. It was proposed years ago and shot down by the owners. But with the onside kick’s success rate now laughably low, the conversation is back on the table. The league knows it has a problem. The final two minutes of a close game have lost a massive chunk of their drama.

Something has to change. Whether the 4th-and-15 is the perfect answer remains to be seen. But it is a heck of a lot more exciting than watching another onside kick dribble harmlessly into the hands of the receiving team. The onside kick is dead. Long live the… well, whatever comes next.

Justin has been a sportswriter for nearly a decade. He has previously written for 247 Sports an Sports Illustrated.

More Great Content