After two games, the dynamic kickoff looked to be a dud. After one full week of games, there were more kick returns than expected.
Rams coach Sean McVay wasn’t among those who opted to roll the dice on the risk of a long return. The Rams kicked off six times on Sunday night. Each resulted in a touchback and a first and 10 for the Lions at their own 30.
Why did McVay kick it away?
“I just think the unforeseen,” McVay told reporters on Monday. “I think knowing that . . . there’s not as many layers in the coverage. There’s possible vertical seams. I think we felt like the confidence that we did have in our defense to put the ball on the 30. It was more about just a lot of the unforeseen consequences. I wasn’t truly surprised that was kind of the approach from the league. There were a lot of discussions that I was kind of involved in . . . . That was kind of the approach just not really knowing. It felt like that was the smart thing for us.”
There will be situations in which it makes sense to try to pin the other team deep in its own end of the field. There also will be situations in which it makes sense to bang the ball out of the end zone.
The Bills had a situation like that on Sunday, with an 11-point lead and 8:44 to play. The Bills put the ball in play, the Cardinals returned the kick for a touchdown, and with the two-point conversion the margin was trimmed to three.
That was a mistake in strategy. Coaches like McVay have decided not to even go down that path. Kick it deep, give up the 30, and move on.