I think the "metagame" has shifted in kickoffs, since the 25 yard touchback rule and moving up the kicking spot.
We noticed that Zuerlein was off a bit on Sunday, having doinked an extra point (long after it mattered) and kicked one out of bounds. But something I noticed him doing was failing to blast the back of the endzone, GZ's usual kickoff result, and a strategy which would make sense when the other team has a talented returner.
However, the Rams kickoff coverage is so consistently excellent (and has been the entire year) that the strategy shifts. Instead of giving them 25 sure yards with a touchback, why not make them field it inside the 5? It's more risky that way with less certain results, but also a high percentage of returns falling short of the 25. After all, they can't risk not catching the notoriously unpredictable football, since (unlike a punt) that kick is a live ball after it travels 10 yards (the rule basis for the onside kick). If they don't catch it and "hope" it bounces into the endzone, the receiving team runs the risk of a weird bounce and recovery by the coverage gunning up right behind the ball itself. So they must field it, which Seattle did, but often ran into a wall of swarming Horns at the 15 or 20 yard line. So the "short kick" actually lengthened the field 5 or 10 yards for the Seahawks.
This is a strategy that probably isn't "new" to the NFL but I've rarely seen it. Doesn't this just reek of McVay outside-the-box thinking to you? It does to me.
