The Las Vegas Raiders have had their bubble popped by the NFL and won’t be able to perform a certain action anymore.
You may have noticed the cheeky bit they pulled during last week’s loss to the Los Angeles Rams, using a holder on kickoffs even if it was an indoor Thursday night game. They did so to have the holder put the ball on a tee instead of having it there on its own. The trick gave Daniel Carlson’s kicks more lift.
“They clarified a rule a couple weeks ago, that you’re permitted to hold the ball on the top of the tee now, so we’ve got a good kicker, you can add hang time to the kick, and I think you saw Daniel use that to our advantage,” head coach Josh McDaniels said, per ProFootballTalk. “As long as you don’t kick it into the end zone, extra hang time, put it at the goal line, we’re further down there, it gives the coverage team a better opportunity to make tackles inside the 25-yard line.”
The NFL Has Clamped Down
Way to use exploit the rules there, coach. Very, very clever…
Unfortunately, the Raiders won’t be able to keep doing this as the NFL has walked back and reconsidered the interpretation following Las Vegas consulting league senior vice president Walt Anderson.
According to Football Zebras, the height of a tee was changed to a 1-inch elevation back in 1994.
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Their explanation reads:
“Even though the kicker may place a ball in any manner on top of or resting against a tee, by placing it in an upright position on the lip circumvents the 1-inch requirement. When the NFL approved this tee style, the upright position of the ball was intended to be placed in the cavity, and so the height of the surrounding structure was largely irrelevant.
“Since the holder is facilitating a placement that is not possible due to gravity, the officiating department reversed course. They informed all teams about this revised interpretation following the Raiders Thursday night game against the Rams.”
Not great for the Raiders, but not like it helped them win anyhow.
