*Kicking/Punting Sim Review

[infinitempg]

great article! love seeing other users take a dive into the kickers and punters because they are people too

just one note...

Finally, looking at the number of punts inside the 20 and average long punts, these two areas saw major differences between the sims in different directions, but for likely the same reason I believe. For the punts inside the 20, it appears the new sim has given an edge for the punting position. But this could be due to many outside factors. My own theory is that because of the new passing meta, when teams are now stopped on third down, many times they are more likely to be further down field but not close enough for a FG try. So they punt it, and because they are close they are able to pin the other team inside the 20 easier. Similarly, this has seen a decrease in the average long punt since the team is closer to the endzone than normal in the first place. And the punts that would be able to achieve new longs become touchbacks. This is just a baseless theory, however, with not nearly enough tape watch to back it up. I would love to see an article about this if anyone else is brave enough (or bored enough).

you can check out my Surrender Punts article for an in-depth look, but the punting mechanics in 21 are a huge improvement, mainly in the fact that the sim has learned how to pin the ball inside the 20. before it just used to be a function of field position and if you were too close to your opponents endzone when punting it was an automatic touchback. now, the sim is smart enough to adjust how much power to put into a punt to try and land the ball inside the 20!