"Vic Fangio, the Philadelphia Eagles' crafty defensive coordinator, took great pride watching his defense force a third-down incompletion Sunday, leaving the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 47 yards from the Eagles' goal line with only four seconds left in the first half. In the old days, that might have led to a Hail Mary pass into the end zone. But instead Bucs kicker Chase McLaughlin trotted on to the field and calmly belted a 65-yard field goal through the super-heated Florida sky,"
"but Fangio fingered one culprit: the designated kicking balls, or K' balls, that each team is allowed to prepare for use in games. In years past, Fangio said at a news conference Tuesday, the officials would rub them down or other people would rub them down, and you'd play with them. Now the balls are in-house all week and they kick those balls that they've had, and nobody else touches them."
Designated kicking balls (K' balls) are now kept in-house all week, preventing outside handling and increasing kicker familiarity with game balls. Kickers such as Chase McLaughlin converted extremely long field goals, including a 65-yarder and a 58-yarder, demonstrating expanded range. Changes to special-teams rules and controlled ball preparation have boosted kicking effectiveness and altered game strategy. Coaches note that kickoff formation tweaks and other adjustments have made special-teams play a substantially bigger factor in outcomes. Teams with elite kickers can attempt longer field goals reliably, affecting end-of-half and late-game decision-making and increasing scoring opportunities.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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