Defensive Notes
One of the league's rule changes for 2009 could have a major effect on kick return touchdowns. The NFL has eliminated the use of a "blocking wedge" involving 3 or more players, the kind of formation you'll see fronting a lot of successful kick returns -- think Desmond Howard's Super Bowl-clinching return for the Green Bay Packers.
As outlined in this Vic Carucci column at NFL.com, the wedge is no more. The league decided that too many players were getting injured as a result of it, so now having any more than two blockers within 2 yards of each other in a line will result in a penalty.
Special teams coaches will adjust and come up with some new ideas, but there's little question that it will reduce the number of kick return touchdowns. (There were 29 last year, and a league-record 42 in 2007.) Somewhat more depressing is it seems almost guaranteed that there will be more penalty flags thrown during long kickoff returns than ever before.
Hard to say how much influence this will have on our TD-only rankings, which are greatly influenced by our determination of which teams are most likely to bring a kick back for a score. The Jets, Raiders, Bills, Bears and Browns are among the teams that get a huge boost, due to their elite kick returners. As Carucci's article notes, some teams -- including the Bills, Bears and Giants -- rely more heavily on the wedge than others. It will be a big change, and possibly a painful one, for those clubs.
--Andy Richardson
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