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The Las Vegas Raiders would probably prefer they not be in the national headlines these days.
Las Vegas and first-year head coach Josh McDaniels had big expectations entering the season. The traded for superstar wide receiver Davante Adams in the offseason and reunited him with college quarterback Derek Carr. Combine that with one of the best running backs in the league and there was plenty of reason for optimism.
But it turns out that McDaniels still may not be all that good at this head coaching thing. The Raiders lost each of their first three games of the season and things haven’t gotten much better from there. They eventually got on the board with a win over the lowly Broncos. But the following week they dropped a heart-breaker to the Chiefs and Adams faced severe scrutiny for shoving a photographer after the game.
With the clock ticking on the season, Las Vegas is now 5-8 and potentially one loss away from being eliminated from playoff contention with a month left in the regular season.
They did, however, find one positive. Daniel Carlson is one of the NFL’s best kickers. He was a second-team All-Pro selection in 2021 and is 12-of-12 so far in 2022.
Carlson is also an elite kickoff specialist, and Las Vegas came up with a way to take advantage of that. That is, until the NFL changed its rules to prevent that.
NFL Changes Rule To Prevent Raiders From Getting Extra Hangtime On Kickoffs
Typically, the NFL allows kickers to use a one-inch tee, no higher, for kickoffs. But they’re also allowed to use a holder if necessary. The Raiders discovered that by using a holder, they could tee the ball higher and, thus, get more hangtime on Carlson’s kickoffs.
It’s honestly a pretty clever interpretation of the rules. Which is exactly why the NFL is shutting it down.
FootballZebras.com reports that the league has informed the Raiders that they can no longer perform their kickoffs in this manner after a review.
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. – via FootballZebras.com
How’s that old saying go? “If you ain’t cheating, you ain’t trying?”
Well, you can’t knock the Raiders for trying.