PRESNAP Week 4 cover. Against a cloudy blue sky, the Christ the Redeemer statue stands with the smiling face of NFL commissioner Roger Goodell in place of its own, arms outstretched. Cover lines read: It’s Good!, A 7-Second Rio Redemption, Is Goodell to blame or thank?, One Rule That Made This Kick Possible and How the Game Changes Forever.
Cover Art by John Lytle

A 7-Second Rio Redemption

Week 4 By John Lytle

On Sunday night, with Christ the Redeemer overlooking Maracanã Stadium, the Ravens did something that may never happen again, or if my theory is correct, what may become a new standard.

With just seven seconds remaining, tied 31-31, the Cowboys assumed that Lamar Jackson would take a knee and head into overtime. We all remember Patrick Mahomes driving 13 seconds to kick a field goal in the 2021 AFC Playoffs, a drive that reset the standard for how much time is needed to win a game, and a blow that gave modern Buffalo fans trauma strong enough to finally bond with a generation that lost four straight Super Bowls.

But on Sunday, that clock was reset once again. Lamar Jackson dropped back and fired a bullet to Zay Flowers 27 yards down the field, who hit the turf with one second remaining. Lamar called timeout, and Tyler Loop came out to kick.

A Ravens receiver in a number 4 jersey reaching up under stadium lights, printed in heavy purple and magenta grain.

A year prior, Tyler Loop had missed a game-winning field goal to send the Ravens to the playoffs, resulting in his Head Coach’s firing and what I can only imagine was an endless barrage of grammatically incorrect death threats from @bringbackflacco67.

Ravens kicker number 33 on the sideline, lit by a burst of white light, in the same purple and magenta grain.

In a stadium known for big kicks, this kick was somehow powerful enough to get Brazil to fall in love with our football. Like every field goal over 50 yards, the ball floated, time stopping between the 30, 20 yard line, then, it’s good. The stadium erupted, and Loop sprinted down the field with his team in tow, finally redeemed.

The kicker lifted into the air by teammates after the kick, helmet in one raised hand, a Jackson jersey in the foreground.

This moment was spectacular, but I couldn’t stop thinking about how this may be too Goodell to be true. For this moment to occur, a few things happened that were a direct result of recent rule changes, rule changes that I believe are designed to make the product on the field more exciting, but may be altering the sanctity of the game. I say this, but I, for one, don’t care about the sanctity of the game and believe the game always needs to evolve and this is what makes football great. As much as I’d love to watch Bryce Young run the Wing-T, I prefer the innovations we have today, but still, it’s fun to pull back the curtain a little and analyze how the game is shifting.

I could list many rule changes that impacted Sunday’s game (and every game), but for the sake of this article (and for the sake of my weak argument), I believe we should focus on one, because this 7-second drive was only possible due to the new kickoff rules that were implemented in 2024.

Before these rule changes, touchbacks resulted in the ball being placed at the 25 yard line. Too many teams were kicking the ball out of the endzone, so they disincentivized touchbacks, moving the ball all the way to the 35. Their reasoning for these rule changes was to both improve player safety while also reducing the “dead time” of a touchback. To me, disincentivizing touchbacks seems rather antithetical to improving player safety, and if the NFL really wanted to reduce dead time, they’d get rid of the New York Jets.

On Sunday, the Cowboys, believing that a kick return touchdown would be the worst possible scenario, opted to kick the ball out of the end zone for a touchback, giving the Ravens the ball on the 35, just 30 yards away from field goal range. In late game situations, this new kickoff rule presents an impossible decision for coaches, but a new opportunity for Goodell and the league to produce more late game-winning drives, improving ratings, revenue, and most importantly, continuing to grow the game internationally, in markets like Brazil. At the 25, things are grim, but at the 35, anything is possible. Sunday may have been a preview of what’s to come if coaches continue to opt for a touchback on the final drive, and the 7-second game-winning drive may become a staple of the late afternoon slate.

So, does this change anything? Is this even a bad thing? Does this take away from what Lamar accomplished?

I’m not a coach, but I can only imagine that these new scenarios they have to work around are incredibly challenging. But since I’m not a coach I’ll answer as a fan. That 7-second drive was the best part of my Sunday. Lamar Jackson did something that has never been done before, making what otherwise would have been a meaningless Week 3 game, a game that now has its place in history, and a place in my memory. So thank you Roger Goodell.