How the Texans exploited a little-known kickoff hole

Something strange happened at Lambeau Field on Sunday.

In the first quarter of Green Bay's eventual 24-22 victory over Houston, Texas kicker Ka'imi Fairbairn hit a kickoff wild left and out of bounds at the Packers' 5-yard line. An official threw the penalty flag out of bounds (25 yards from the location of the free kick) for a kickoff. But as Fairbairn ran to the sideline, his teammates cheered him and gave him a high-five.

Fairbairn shot from the 50-yard line instead of the 35-yard line because a Green Bay defender was cited for unsportsmanlike conduct on the previous play, a Houston field goal. This 15-yard Green Bay penalty changed where Fairbairn would kick the ball, moving it from the 35-yard line to the 50-yard line. And that 25-yard out-of-bounds free kick penalty meant Green Bay would start at its 25-yard line.

But most spectators and spectators were confused from then on. This situation has rarely occurred this season.

Since the location for a touchback is now the 30-yard line, this particular scenario required Fairbairn to make an aggressive kick.

“If it (lands and goes through) the end zone, the receiving team (gets) it there at the 20,” running back and kicking team blocker Dare Ogunbowale said. “The best case scenario is that they try to get upfield and then we can attack them at the 10. And in the worst case scenario it goes out and they are on the 25th.”

The worst-case scenario here actually gave the Texans better field position than a touchback, which accounted for 65.6% of kickoffs of the season in the first few games of Week 7.

Starting at the 35-yard line, the standard kickoff position, a kickoff means the ball is placed at the receiving team's 40-yard line, giving the receiving team a short field. But when kicking from the 50 line, instead of stepping into the end zone for a touchback, Houston's defense actually gained a 5-yard gain by kicking out of bounds.

Ogunbowale said special teams coach Frank Ross shouted to Fairbairn before the game: “Be aggressive!” The Texans could be in danger of being eliminated. In this case it was actually the strategy.

“We knew going into it that if we could kick the ball out of the 50 line, we (Fairbairn) would just be aggressive,” Ogunbowale said. “We noticed that with the rule, which was a foolproof way for us to give our defense good field position.”

The Packers punted on the ensuing drive after a three-and-out.

This kickoff hack is new this season as the previous rule moved the touchback to the 25-yard line, which would eliminate a similar field position advantage.

Because it was very windy at Lambeau Field, Ogunbowale said Fairbairn was unable to hit the kick exactly where he wanted, getting a bounce and making it difficult for the returner to land it, or in the end zone, but he couldn't get through, which would put the ball at the 20. Instead, the ball flew out of bounds at the 5-yard line, and Houston experienced its worst-case scenario, which was still better than the most likely scenario for a kickoff – a touchback on the 30th.

“It's definitely beneficial to keep your composure after a (field goal) or an extra point so you get that extra 15 yards,” Ogunbowale said.

Another difference from penalties assessed on kickoffs is the position of the kickoff team. Under the old rules, teams would have thrown the ball in play rather than out of bounds because the kickoff team started on the same yard line as the kicker. So if they started at 50 yards, they reached the returner 15 yards faster than normal.

But under the new rule, the kicking team lines up on the opposite 40-yard line, 5 yards from the setup zone where the receiving team lines up, and does not move with penalty.

“That’s the strange thing because before we had to move forward too,” Ogunbowale said. “Some of the Packers guys thought we should be 5 yards ahead, too.”

The NFL has said there will likely be adjustments to the new kickoff rules in the offseason, so this loophole may receive more scrutiny in this process. Until then, a penalty that moves the kick-off point up represents a new advantage for the kick-off teams.