Blocked field goals, 70-yard threats and chaotic kickoffs, the foot is back in football
<p>Rule tweaks and ‘K’ balls have put special teams at the center of the NFL season like never before, from 65-yard field goals to newfangled kickoff formations</p><p>Vic Fangio, the Philadelphia Eagles’ crafty defensive coordinator, took great pride watching his defense force a third-down incompletion Sunday, leaving the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 47 yards from the Eagles’ goal line with only four seconds left in the first half.</p><p>In the old days, that might have led to a Hail Mary pass into the end zone. But instead Bucs kicker Chase McLaughlin trotted on to the field and calmly belted a 65-yard field goal through the super-heated Florida sky, tied for the second-longest in NFL history.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2025/oct/02/nfl-kicking-game-revival-special-teams-rule-changes">Continue reading...</a>
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The Guardian