New Rules for Kickoffs were on display during the Bears and Texans HOF game

If you are a fan of football, you were pretty excited to watch the kickoff of the Chicago Bears and Houston Texans game, which was pretty entertaining for the most part. Chicago came back from an early deficit and defeated the Texans 21-17.

Now we have gotten the score out the way, let's dive into the new format of kickoffs. Basically, after a returner catches the ball, that's when the defense can run after the player who caught the ball. Another factor that viewers saw was a "12th" man helping out with the kick, but as soon as the ball is kicked, the place holder has to sprint off the field. Yes, I know it's a bit confusing, but here are what some of the players had to say about the new kickoff format.

"You grew up your whole life just catching it, having different levels and things of that nature; and now, everyone is kind of stacked," Scott said. "If a kick is kind of short, guys are right up on you. You've got to make one cut and go. I think there's benefits to that, because if one guy misses, then you're good. But at the same time, if you make the wrong cut, somebody is right there, said Bears wide receiver Tyler Scott.

"So far, I feel like it kind of protects guys a little bit more. Guys aren't getting a full head of steam coming down the field, taking shots on people. But I think for the most part, it'll work out pretty well. Just think we'll have a lot of explosive plays.

Kick returner specialists and now HOFmer Devin Hetser had this to say about it. "I'm watching it, man, and I'm surprised that we're not seeing more big runs," Hester said on ESPN's broadcast. "You know, that's shocking. But hey, it's the first game. So, I figure a lot of coaches are going to evaluate this game and try to figure out what they can do to get some more big plays. But right now, it's kind of shaky "But who knows? The first game. We'll see.

It is a new format, and a lot of fans are not too keen on the chances itself. Maybe they will be if they can see big runs from it. Only time will tell.