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Vic Fangio, a Philadelphia Eagles’ shrewd defense coach, watched with great pride while his defensive unit elicited a third and long incompletion last Sunday, leaving the Tampa Bay Buccaneers nearly half the field away from Philadelphia's end zone with just four seconds left in the first half.

In the old days, this could have resulted in a Hail Mary throw into the end zone. But instead Bucs specialist Chase McLaughlin trotted on the turf and calmly sent a 65-yard three-pointer into the super-heated sunny air, tied for the second-longest in league history.

Chase McLaughlin nails a 65 yard FG at the end the first half 💥

Eagles vs Buccaneers on FOX

McLaughlin subsequently kicked a long kick to put the Buccaneers a score down with 12 minutes in the contest. The Eagles managed to escape with a 31-25 victory, but Fangio fingered one culprit: the designated kicking balls which teams is allowed to work on for usage in games.

“In years past,” the coach stated during a news conference Tuesday, “the officials would prepare them or other people would rub them down, and you’d use them. Currently these balls are kept by the team throughout the week and they use those balls they have prepared, and nobody else handling them.”

Referring to the Cowboys’ brilliant kicker, Brandon Aubrey, Fangio said: “The guy in Dallas will make a over 70 yarder this year. You should mark it down … I mean, who thought they would hit a 65-yarder recently? Thus it has significantly altered football, the kicking game and the field goal. Kickers have greater distance than they used to.”

Rule Changes and Revitalized Kicking Units

The NFL seems to have (successfully) put more of the foot back into American football. Due to multiple rules changes in recent years, NFL special teams play has become a significantly more crucial element affecting the outcome of games. This is seen as a good thing.

“The league wants higher scoring? Here it is,” the Eagles' special teams coach, said Tuesday.

Those newfangled kickoff setups might still appear artificial (the president himself is on record claiming they are “detrimental to the game”), but, as regulations tweaked further so again year, they have significantly led to increased activity. Teams average 23.4 points per game, the second highest ever recorded.

Kickoff Returns and The Landing Zone

Through four weeks, according to statistical sources, league teams are averaging 103.2 yards gained on returns each outing, an all-time high – and over four times the mean of under 25 yards per team last year, after which the NFL revamped its entire kickoff process. Only 16.5% of kickoffs in 2025 have ended as dead balls, compared with 73% in 2023.

Most notably, NFL officials promotes kickoff attempts dropping in a “landing zone” that stretches 20 yards from the end zone. As a result, kickoffs are skillfully positioned, looking much more like coffin-corner kicks. Previously, kickers would simply boot kickoffs beyond the goal area for an automatic stop – yet that approach now results in possession starting at the 35-yard line.

A week earlier, during a 33-26 win over the Los Angeles Rams, the Eagles had some serious problems handling the wobbly, bouncing, bouncing kickoff returns launched by Joshua Carty, Los Angeles' second-year kicker, with five Philadelphia drives beginning or inside the 20-yard line.

But specialists cannot simply send ground balls to their opponents and expect mishandles. Kickoffs must first land, or be received, within the landing zone. After the Arizona Cardinals evened the previous Thursday's contest against the Seahawks in the final moments to play, Chad Ryland drilled a kick that landed one yard before the target area.

Penalties and Game-Deciding Kicks

The penalty was severe: Seattle got possession on the 40, less than 20 yards beyond the range for kicker Jason Myers. Following a 22-yard pass completion and a 4-yard rush, Myers – who’d earlier failed a long try – made a 52-yard kick to secure Seattle a 23-20 win.

Upon being questioned during his after the game news conference what the kicker aimed to accomplish there, Arizona coach Jonathan Gannon stated, “Keep the ball live. That’s one of the things we discuss late in the game there with the amount of timeouts, the clock, what they need at the line. We aimed to use up some clock there.”

Rejected Attempts plus Special Units' Influence

The more dynamic kickoffs seem to have rubbed off on the other aspects of special teams. There have already been 16 blocked kicks, placekicks and extra points so far this season. The Cowboys blocked an point after try last Sunday in a 40-40 draw with Green Bay, with Cowboys defensive back Markquese Bell running back it 80 yards for a safety, or two points for the Cowboys. That was only the 10th time this has happened since it was first allowed in 2015.

A Bears player rejected the Raiders' 54-yard field-goal try in the final half-minute to go allowing the Bears to hold on for 25-24 victory over Las Vegas. Following blocking a pair of field goals against the Rams – one of which might have won the game for the Rams but led to a game-ending Eagles touchdown – the Eagles blocked a punt against Tampa Bay and ran it back for an early-game TD.

Tactical Play plus Evolving Methods

Meanwhile, Philadelphia veteran kicker Jake Elliott kept pinning Tampa Bay in their own territory with skillful kickoff placements inside the landing zone. The Buccaneers started six drives following his kicks at the average of the 22-yard line. His first kick fell in the landing zone and bounced into end zone for a stoppage. Under those conditions, the Bucs had to start from their 20-yard line.

“Jake performs an exceptional role in trying to perfect anything he does,” the coach noted. “Be it a placekick, or a kickoff, significant effort goes into them in terms of preparation. We practiced there, {I know|I