Arrowhead Report

4th-and-15 Onside Kick Alternative Does Not Pass At NFL Owners Meeting

According to Sports Illustrated's Albert Breer, the NFL owners did not pass a rule that would have allowed teams to play a 4th-and-15 offensive down in place of an onside kick.

Joshua Brisco

According to Sports Illustrated's Albert Breer, NFL owners voted down a rule proposal that would have allowed teams to play a 4th-and-15 offensive down in place of an onside kick.

The rule, which Breer reports will not be used in 2020, was proposed by the Philadelphia Eagles. Here are the details of the now-rejected proposal, via NFL.com's webpage detailing the new potential rules:

By Philadelphia; to amend Rule 6, Section 1, Article 1, to provide an alternative to the onside kick that would allow a team who is trailing in the game an opportunity to maintain possession of the ball after scoring (4th and 15 from the kicking team’s 25-yard line).

Kansas City Chiefs Head Coach Andy Reid previously said he had "mixed thoughts" about the rule proposal.

“Listen, I don’t know if it’s going to pass or not," Reid said. "I know the special teams coaches aren’t real big on that. It obviously takes away one of the elements of theirs, and it’s also the kickoff, which has been under scrutiny here, and kickoff returns. To keep the integrity of the game, you’d like that part of it. On the other hand, if it does pass, we’ve got a guy that can do 4th-and-15s, he’d give us the opportunity to be able to do that. So, I’ve got kind of mixed thoughts on it. Being an old guy, I’d probably stick with the integrity of the game as it sits right now, but I can also see where the other part could be exciting too.”

Quarterback Patrick Mahomes seemed more excited about the possibility of the rule change, but he won't be able to take advantage of it in 2020.

This is disappointing news for Chiefs fans, as the Chiefs' offense would have been the league's most dynamic user of this new rule. This will hopefully at least serve as another reminder that the Chiefs should be more generally aggressive on fourth down, but having this opportunity available while trailing late in the game would have been an excellent break-glass-in-case-of-emergency weapon for the Chiefs.

Here are the rules that did pass on Thursday.

Update: NFL Network's Ian Rapoport says the rule has gained momentum from years past and may be reconsidered next offseason:

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Joshua Brisco
JOSHUA BRISCO

Joshua Brisco is the editor and publisher of Kansas City Chiefs On SI and has covered the Chiefs professionally since 2017 across audio and written media.

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