The Detroit Lions attempted an onside kick in the waning seconds of their six-point loss to the Buffalo Bills on Sunday evening, but it almost backfired when Bills cornerback Taron Johnson and his teammates fought for the football. Johnson was the one who initially recovered the ball, saying, “Whole lotta pulling, a whole lotta pinching, putting fingers where they’re not supposed to be and all that stuff. We just did a good job on that play.”
The Lions’ kicker, Jake Bates, tried to sneaky an onside kick by kicking it towards the middle of the field instead of the sideline. However, it’s been proven difficult to recover onside kicks this season due to the new dynamic kickoff rules. Teams must declare their intentions to perform an onside kick before attempting it.
The Lions attempted an onside kick early in the fourth quarter after cutting the lead to 10 points, but it resulted in a quick score for the Bills. Head coach Dan Campbell regretted the decision, saying, “I thought we’d get that ball. I wish I hadn’t done it.”
The NFL’s executive Troy Vincent believes the onside kick may need to be re-examined, stating, “I think all has to be on the table. When we adjusted the kickoff five, six years ago, that also impacted the onside kick. You used to have overload, attack blocks, trap blocks that occurred on that play, which was a pretty dangerous play. You can set people up for failures is what we would say.”
The Philadelphia Eagles proposed an alternative to onside kicks last year, which would have allowed teams to attempt a 4th-and-20 from their own 20. If successful, the team would have received the ball back. The issue of onside kicks may need to be revisited by the NFL competition committee to make the play more competitive and exciting.