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MONDAY Night Football treated NFL fans to an ugly game, but things got confusing when a new rule was debuted out of nowhere.
The Miami Dolphins and Tennessee Titans squared off on Monday Night Football, and many fans were left confused by the ending of the game.
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The Titans beat down the Dolphins 31-12 during the game, and Miami attempted a late-game comeback.
The Dolphins had control of the ball with 2:33 remaining and down by 10 points, but quarterback Tyler Huntley received an intentional grounding penalty in the end zone, resulting in a safety.
Miami was then forced to take a free kick from their own 20-yard line after the safety, and did something completely unexpected with the play.
The Dolphins announced they were attempting an onside kick, but they used their punter to attempt it.
Punter Jake Bailey launched the ball, which landed near midfield and bounced once before a Dolphins player picked up the ball.
After the ball was recovered by the Dolphins, it was immediate confusion as the Dolphins were penalized for the kick landing past the setup zone.
No one on the broadcast knew what was going on, and rules analyst Jerry Bergman did his best to explain what was going on, but somehow the Titans were given the ball at the Dolphins’ 10-yard line after the penalty.
NFL fans were left baffled by the sequence of events, and shared their confusion with each other on social media.
“If the onside kick has to have a landing zone… then it’s officially time to get rid of the kick off in all forms altogether,” one fan said.
“NFL kickoff/onside rules are an absolute joke,” another fan said.
“They have absolutely ruined the game. This isn’t professional football,” a third fan said.
“I’m still unclear on what happened here,” a fourth fan said.
“An absolute travesty what they’re doing to the game,” a fifth fan said.
The new kickoff rules have been a huge subject of confusion for fans this season.
Changes were made to incentivize more kick returns during games, but the NFL has not seen the results they were hoping for.
NFL important dates
August 1 – Hall of Fame Game – Houston Texans vs Chicago Bears
August 8 – Pre-season begins
August 27 – Deadline for 53-man rosters
September 1 – Final day of pre-season
September 5 – Season opener – Baltimore Ravens vs Kansas City Chiefs
November 5 – Trade deadline
January 5 – Week 18 of regular-season
January 11 – Playoffs begin
February 9 – Super Bowl LIX in New Orleans, Louisiana
There will likely be more tweaks coming to the kickoff rules following this season.
“I think we’ll have to make a few changes on the kickoff that will, I think, lead to a lot more kickoff returns,” NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said.
“I think that there will be a change.
“Whether we make it immediately after the season, we’re going to have a competition committee [meeting] in the next week.”
For now, fans will continue to have to figure out what is going on with the kickoff as the games go on.
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