The NFL finally got its first kickoff return for a touchdown in 2016, the latest point in a season it has happened in 37 years. That distinction coincides with a new NFL rule that has encouraged teams to use high, short kickoffs that can be covered more effectively.
According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the last time the first touchdown off a kickoff return happened in Week 6 or later was in 1979. Sunday, the Philadelphia Eagles' Wendell Smallwood broke the ice by taking back a Washington Redskins kickoff 86 yards at FedEx Field.
Smallwood's return was the shortest kickoff return for a touchdown since 2013, according to Elias.
Smallwood caught Sunday's kickoff at the 14-yard line, in part because the Redskins had been assessed a 15-yard penalty after tight end Vernon Davis took a jump shot with the ball after scoring a touchdown. After the penalty, the Redskins kicked from the 20-yard line instead of the 35. Washington's first three kickoffs all were touchbacks.
Davis, who was celebrating his first touchdown catch of the season, took a jump shot with the ball, shooting it over the goal post to draw the penalty. Officials penalized Davis for excessive celebration, using the ball as a prop.
The Redskins won Sunday's game, 27-20.
NFL strategy has been upended this season by a one-year experiment that the NFL hoped would reduce the total number of kickoff returns and improve player safety. The rule calls for touchbacks this season to be marked at the 25-yard line instead of the 20. But instead of incentivizing returners to take a touchback more frequently, it has instead led to a swell of shorter kicks that teams hope will force returns and ultimately pin returners well inside the 25-yard line.
Through Week 5, NFL teams were kicking into the end zone 79 percent of the time, down from nearly 92 percent last season. Returns were up about seven percent over last year as well, confirming the experiment has produced the opposite of the desired effect.
ESPN's John Keim contributed to this report.