The Eagles used a kickoff trick in their Week 2 win over the Tennessee Titans. Instead of putting the football on a kicking tee, punter Braden Mann came onto the field and held the ball on the ground for kicker Jake Elliott. This gave Elliott the exact angle he wanted before kicking it. However, this clever loophole can now be shut down by the league.

“Sources: NFL special teams coordinators are meeting in the next hour to clarify a kickoff rule that some teams are believed to have misunderstood — or found a loophole in — through the first two weeks of the season,” Jordan Schultz said on X.

The reason for the Eagles’ use of this loophole was to help Elliott kick a “Dirty ball.” After Elliott kicked the ball, Mann quickly ran off the field. However, not only the Eagles, but the Falcons also used the same 12th-man holder strategy during their Week 1 loss to the Steelers. And that’s where the problem started.

“The NFL allows a 12th player on the field to hold the ball on kickoffs, but teams including the Eagles last week and Falcons in Week 1 used that extra player to hold the ball without a tee, giving the kicker a different launch angle to create a more difficult “dirty” kick and potential field-position advantage,” Schultz said.

The problem is not why but how they did it.

The NFL introduced the new kickoff rules in 2024, allowing teams to have a 12th player act as a holder in certain situations. This was mainly meant for conditions like strong wind, when the ball might not stay properly on the kicking tee. But there were no such conditions during these games.

On top of it, the confusion comes from the tee rule. It says teams “may use” a tee, making the rule sound optional. It never clearly says that a holder must place the ball on the tee. So teams like the Eagles found a loophole.

The issue extended further than expected as Bears special teams coordinator Richard Hightower bashed the Eagles too.

“Two years we talked about it, where you could use a holder,” Hightower said to media on Friday. “It evolved to weather-related only. This past year it changed to you can use it at any time. But . . . the intent of the rule is the ball is supposed to be on a tee when you have a holder out there. It’s not to be used like you’ve seen it used here lately.”

“We’re all getting together on that shortly, and we hope to get that fixed and corrected within the language of everything done in the rulebook.”

However, this is not the only rule that needs changes.

NFL kickoff rule mess

The NFL changed the kickoff setup in 2024, but the new system created an unusual problem when a penalty moves the kickoff to the 50-yard line.

Normally, an NFL kickoff starts from the kicking team’s 35-yard line. But if the kicking team gets a 15-yard penalty before the kickoff, the kicker has to move back and kick from the 50-yard line.

The unusual part is that only the kicker moves back. The rest of the kickoff setup stays in the same place. So, the kicker is at the 50-yard line, but the landing zone and restraining lines are still positioned as they would be for a normal kickoff from the 35.

That created an opportunity for teams. When kicking from the 50, a team could simply kick the ball out of bounds on purpose rather than trying to make a normal kickoff. Under the existing rules, that would give the receiving team the ball at its own 25-yard line.

The NFL Competition Committee wants to take away that advantage. Under the proposed rule, if a kickoff is taken from the 50 and the ball goes into or through the end zone without being returned, the receiving team would get the ball at its own 20-yard line instead.

In simple terms, the NFL is trying to make sure teams cannot use a penalty and the kickoff rules together to create an easier or more favorable outcome. The proposal would also make the possible starting positions after an unreturned kickoff simpler.

With the NFL continuing to adjust its kickoff rules and fix situations that create unintended advantages, it will be interesting to see how these changes affect the way teams approach kickoffs.