The proposition for NFL teams to skip an onside kick and go for it on fourth-and-15 from their 25-yard line following a score failed to pass for the second consecutive year.
This rule was proposed in response to the extremely low probability of an onside kick being recovered by the kicking team, which was 10.7% for the 2019 season. Research found that plays that require converting a fourth-and-15 after a score have a 28.6% success rate.
NFL competition committee chairman Rich McKay told USA TODAY that teams do not want to make it too easy for an opposing team to come back from a deficit.
“There definitely is that theory that you don’t want to make a comeback too easy,” McKay said. “You’ve worked hard all game to be ahead, and you don’t want a rule change to come in and all of a sudden say, ‘We’re going to completely change the odds of you being able to preserve that lead.’ People wanted to hear those statistics. … In those people’s minds, ‘Let’s not make this too easy.’”
There have been a few new rule changes, but nothing related to onside kicks for 2020.
