The new kickoff's penalty enforcement procedure will invite all-out efforts to block the PAT.
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So if the team that scores a touchdown opts for the traditional one-point try, what’s the downside to sending players aggressively after the kicker, with a directive to go all out for the block and not worry about crashing into him? The penalty, whether five yards for running into the kicker or 15 for roughing the kicker, will mean nothing to the ensuing kickoff.
Hopefully, teams won’t deliberately try to injure the kicker. That said, it would potentially be open season on hitting them during or after a kick, because there will be no fear of a significant downside. Once kickers realize it’s coming, they might get even skittish before the kick — making a miss more likely. And if, through the application of a clean, legal hit the kicker is unable to continue in a given game, the kicking team will potentially have a hard time placing the ball in the 20-yard landing zone with a backup kicker.