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Inside the art of blocking a kick in the NFL: ‘They’re game changers’

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Inside the art of blocking a kick in the NFL: 'They're game changers'

  • NFL NationNov 22, 2025, 06:00 AM ET

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TRAILING THE TAMPA Bay Buccaneers in Week 3, New York Jets defensive end Will McDonald IV did not line up at his typical edge spot.

The score was 26-20 and the Jets had just scored 14 unanswered points in the fourth quarter.

Buccaneers kicker Chase McLaughlin was stepping up to attempt a 43-yard field goal. But McDonald had other plans, lining up across from right guard Elijah Klein.

On the snap, McDonald leaped over Klein and long-snapper Evan Deckers. Both blockers stayed low, so McDonald — an accomplished long jumper and high jumper in high school — went high.

He blocked the kick, lucked out with a great bounce and returned it 50 yards for a go-ahead touchdown in the final two minutes. Despite the effort, the Jets lost the game on an ensuing last-second field goal.

«I feel like it was kind of a legendary play for me, probably the best play I’ve ever made in my NFL career,» McDonald, a 2023 first-round pick, said.

It was the first time since 1997 that the Jets scored on a blocked field goal attempt.

«Our special teams coordinator [Chris] Banjo does a good job of identifying the guys that can go make a play for us,» Jets coach Aaron Glenn said. «It just so happened during scout team, Will [McDonald] wanted to rush the kick. … Banjo and I looked at each other and said listen, ‘We might give this guy a chance,’ and we did.

«Playmakers make plays and that’s what this game is all about.»

The NFL has seen 31 blocked kicks (16 field goals, seven extra points, eight punts) through 11 weeks, the most since the 2014 season (38). It’s a steady increase from Weeks 1-11 in 2024 (27) and 2023 (18). In the first six weeks of the 2025 season alone, there were 20.

The influx in blocks begs the questions: How do NFL players prepare to block kicks? What is the preferred technique to block a kick? And are there special rules they have to follow? And why is there an increase this season?

Our NFL Nation reporters have tracked the extended hands that have blocked kicks flying over players’ heads, the near field goal attempts that ricocheted off crossbars thanks to smart defense and the punts that never went anywhere in an effort to reveal the strategy that goes into blocking a kick and why there might have been an early-season increase through 11 weeks of the regular season.

They’ve discovered the art of blocking a kick starts days before a game when scouting an opponent’s tape and then trickles into putting that practice into action.

«I know the league loves it; it means the game is more fun,» Jets veteran kicker Nick Folk said. «They don’t want run this, pass this. Special teams plays, when they happen, they’re momentum changers. They’re game changers.»

Los Angeles Rams, where the 6-foot-6, 336-pound Jordan Davis blocked a 44-yard Joshua Karty field goal attempt with three seconds remaining, scooped it up and rumbled 61 yards for the touchdown to secure a 33-26 win.

It helps to have two standout defensive tackles in Davis and Jalen Carter wreaking havoc in the middle of the formation. But it’s the prep work during the week — and the buy-in from starters such as Carter and Davis — that help make those moments happen.

«[Assistant special teams coordinator Joe Pannunzio] is always talking to us during our special teams meeting, tells us when going through [a] field goal block who the fish is, what side is the best side to rush,» said Carter, who had a field goal block of his own in that game.

The «fish» Carter mentions is the weak link the Eagles look to exploit on the line.

The Eagles’ blocked punt came in Week 4 against the Bucs. Cameron Latu pierced through the middle of Tampa’s formation to get his hand on the ball and Sydney Brown scooped it up and ran 35 yards for the touchdown to stake Philadelphia to an early 7-0 lead.

Coach Nick Sirianni’s reaction was yelling «I told you!» as he sprinted down the sideline during the play.

«We go through our game plan early on in the week, and have an inkling when we could possibly get [a block],» Eagles special teams coach Michael Clay said.

It’s a team effort.

Take field goal block prep: Pannunzio and senior defensive assistant/defensive line coach Clint Hurtt address the unit on Wednesday to give a primer.

Then the group meets on Fridays to talk about which player gives them the best chance at attacking a kick. Clay credited pro scout Terrence Braxton, who does the advance work for the special teams coaches and lets them know which side of the line might be vulnerable.

«I mean a lot of it goes into all the work that [special teams assistant] Tyler [Brown and] Joe puts into scouting,» Clay said. «But at the end of the day, everything looks great on paper, everything looks great on my whiteboard until we could properly execute it like we did. … It’s all to the players.»

THE CHICAGO BEARS’ Josh Blackwell blocked a potential game-winning field goal by the Las Vegas Raiders with less than a minute to play in a Week 4 game — and it wasn’t the by-product of luck or circumstance.

The four-phase special teamer had been preparing all week with information on an opposing player’s tell.

Because he saw 12 blocked kicks across the NFL through the first three weeks, Bears special teams coordinator Richard Hightower had players focus their attention on noticing small tendencies that could change the trajectory of the game.

«We study the hell out of the league,» Hightower said. «The boys, they’re on top of it. There were some eye-opening moments in the meeting this week with that.»

So when Las Vegas kicker Daniel Carlson lined up to boot a 54-yard field goal, Blackwell’s eyes locked in on Raiders long-snapper Jacob Bobenmoyer.

During a meeting early in Week 4, Blackwell received a tip from Bears long-snapper Scott Daly, who had scoured film on Bobenmoyer. It was subtle, but Daly noticed a tell: Bobenmoyer would sometimes move the ball before snapping it on PAT attempts and field goals.

Daly knew if Blackwell could get a jump on the snap, he’d have a chance to block a kick.

«For those kicks, it comes down to an inch,» Daly said.

When the field goal block unit trotted onto the field with Chicago ahead by one point, Bears coach Ben Johnson turned his attention to Hightower, who was walking the coaching staff through the opportunity Blackwell, the fourth-year cornerback, was about to have.

During Carlson’s two prior kicks, Blackwell came close to getting a hand on the football. Hightower knew this time could be different.

«[Hightower was] kind of narrating it in real time and he’s like, ‘Yeah, Blackwell is going to get this one for us, he’s going to come through,'» Johnson recalled. He was right. Blackwell burst off the left edge of the defense and threw his hand up as he dived to block the Raiders’ field goal attempt. The Bears beat the Raiders 25-24 while improving to .500 headed into their Week 5 bye.

Blackwell described the moment as an «out of body experience.»

«I was on cloud nine,» Blackwell said. «I was going to get this one. I got this one.»

AT THE START of the fourth quarter in Week 6, Washington Commanders nose tackle Daron Payne blocked Bears kicker Jake Moody’s 48-yard field goal attempt. The block put the Commanders at their own 37-yard line, and they found the end zone seven plays later when Jayden Daniels connected with Zach Ertz for a touchdown.

The Commanders had done their part by scouting the Bears’ shaky kicking room — which saw Moody, who was released by the 49ers, start in place of an injured Greg Santos — and combined that with excellent execution.

«We felt good going into the game depending on both of the kickers that we could have seen,» special teams coordinator Larry Izzo said. «… At times they hit the ball low. And so it comes down to getting a great get off, driving your legs, getting your hands up, and you want to do that consistently every time. And when that matches up with a lower kick like we had in the game, that’s what leads to the blocks.»

As far as what his team looks at going into the game, Izzo said: «What you’re studying every week is the opponent’s field goal protection. You’re looking at the personnel, you’re looking for guys that have issues with their technique and you’re looking at the kicker as well in terms of just what their [operation] time is.»

And then players have one goal when putting it in action during the game:

«You want to be under 1.3 [seconds],» Izzo said. «… You can’t go through the snapper like they used to go. So they’re protected. So different gaps are being attacked, but again, it still starts in the A gap and B gap. Those are more, that’s where it’s at usually.»

Izzo said anyone can block a kick, it just comes down to one thing: «At the end of the day, the secret sauce to blocking field goals is effort and desire. And when you have a unit that’s rushing with effort and desire and they get their hands up, you get a low kick, you’re going to have a chance. That’s the key.»

The technique

Some blocked kicks begin in the film room, when a special teams coach notices a potential weakness in the opponent and puts his players in position to exploit it. Other times, a player simply makes a play.

The Seattle Seahawks have had examples of both this season.

In Week 1 against the San Francisco 49ers, safety Julian Love shot through the gap between the tackle and wing to block a 36-yard field goal attempt by Moody, who was cut by the 49ers a day later.

While that play was more about Love’s timing and effort than anything else, the punt that Seattle blocked two weeks later against the New Orleans Saints owed a tip of the cap to special teams coordinator Jay Harbaugh and assistant special teams coach Devin Fitzsimmons.

They had their punt return unit prepared for a certain Saints formation that could leave safety D’Anthony Bell unaccounted for off the right edge. When New Orleans showed that look pre-snap, Seattle checked to a block that set the table for Bell.

«It was me blocking it all week,» Bell said. «So I’m like, hopefully they don’t change what they do and they leave me free, which they did, and I end up blocking the punt.»

Getting in position to block a kick is one thing. There’s also an art to getting your hand on the ball. Or in Bell’s case, your body.

«We actually practice taking the ball off the foot,» he said. «… A lot of times, you can miss that ball and it can go right past you. I think I just took the perfect angle, had good eyes, kept my hands down and it ended up hitting me right in the chest, so I was in a great spot.»

Love, whose blocked field goal attempt last season against the New England Patriots looked similar to the one he had in the opener, said adrenaline is usually pumping too much to feel any pain when the ball hits him.

«Last year, I think it did jack up my finger,» he said. «But in the moment I was hyped.»

VIKINGS SPECIAL TEAMS coordinator Matt Daniels laughed and shook his head.

«I didn’t have Levi Drake Rodriguez as [NFL] Special Teams Player the Week on my bingo card,» Daniels said.

But that’s exactly the award Rodriguez earned for the NFC in Week 9 after blocking a 45-yard field goal attempt in the fourth quarter of the Vikings’ 27-24 upset of the Detroit Lions.

A reserve defensive lineman in his second NFL season, Rodriguez slipped between Lions long-snapper Hogan Hatten and guard Kayode Awosika, raised his arms and redirected an admittedly low kick from the Lions place-kicker Jake Bates. Cornerback Isaiah Rodgers picked up the ball and returned it 41 yards, setting the Vikings up for a field goal of their own that proved to be the difference in the game.

«We had to have it,» Rodriguez said. «I was just doing my job on that play, getting good penetration, getting my hands up. You can’t take those plays off because they mean a lot.»

Daniels acknowledged Bates was kicking low enough in the game that linebacker Dallas Turner came off the field after an extra point attempt and predicted the Vikings would get a block before the game was over. Daniels also pointed out that Awosika’s blocking effort was «a little bit questionable on that play honestly, where he didn’t fully finish.»

But Rodriguez still followed the three elements that Daniels emphasizes for every opposing field goal attempt: penetration, separation and elevation.

«It was definitely a low kick,» Daniels said. «But shoot. We’ve still got to find a way to get our hands up and create some penetration and get there. No doubt.»

The goal, Daniels said, is to move upfield between 1.5 and 2 yards.

«If you’re able to achieve that, you’re going to have a pretty good chance to get your hands on the football.»

THE BROWNS HANDED the Green Bay Packers their first loss in Week 3. A play that made it possible came from defensive lineman Shelby Harris, who blocked a go-ahead field goal attempt. It was Harris’ sixth blocked field goal attempt since entering the NFL in 2014, which is tied for most in the league with Houston Texans defensive end Denico Autry.

«You got to look, obviously, where they’re kicking the ball,» Harris said after the Browns’ 13-10 win. «Is the ball going to be tailing to the left, is it going to be tailing to the right? Depending on that, you got to think they’re going to try to make it through the middle, so depending on what side of the line you’re on, that determines really what hand needs to get up to block it too.

«Everything could be perfect and you still don’t get it. … Everything worked out perfect.»

Browns special teams coordinator Bubba Ventrone believed the spate of blocked kicks at the time is a by-product of units working through growing pains in the early part of the season.

«I do see there that, like, earlier in the season, I feel like you see more of that type of thing happening,» Ventrone said. «Teams are still trying to figure out their personnel. You have young players playing and/or blocking. So, I think that that factors.»

Why the increase in blocks?

Leading into the Dallas Cowboys’ Week 4 game against the Packers, C.J. Goodwin, the Cowboys special teams’ captain, made a prediction in the meeting room: Juanyeh Thomas was going to block a field goal attempt.

He was partially correct.

Thomas’ block came on an extra point try early in the second quarter, not a field goal. Markquese Bell scooped up the loose ball and ran for the first 2-point conversion the Cowboys have had off a blocked kick.

«Honestly, if you look at the field goal attempts across the league, for real, you have a quote, unquote leaker, which is like the soft side,» Thomas said. «And I feel like everybody across the league is attacking that side now. That’s something I look at every week.»

Cowboys special teams coordinator Nick Sorensen said Thomas had been close to blocking a number of kicks, including the Packers’ first field goal attempt.

«First is belief — that you’re going to get there because it could be anybody that’s rushing on that side,» Sorensen said. «Then it’s his get off and then it’s finish. He was just missing it because once he landed after he jumped through, he wasn’t getting vertical. So it was like, ‘Dude, you’re so close. Once you hit it, you got to get vertical.’ Then he did and he got it.»

Thomas and Sorensen were quick to credit Goodwin, who lined up to his left and engaged with the outside protector, and Donovan Ezeiruaku, who chewed up another blocker to give Thomas the lane to block the try. It was his second block in three seasons.

Goodwin had a theory when asked why there are more blocked kicks than in previous years.

«We’re just taking it more seriously now,» Goodwin said. «We’re understanding that the effort that we put into it isn’t just on game day. It’s film study and effort. So if you think that way every time, you’re going to get a block or two.»

Folk, who has kicked for five NFL teams and been in the league since he was drafted in the sixth round by the Cowboys in 2007, shared his own theories about the increase in blocks this season, ranging from good special teams schemes to not enough preseason pressure.

«Some of it, I think, is scheme. Honestly, there’s been some great schemes going, like Will [McDonald]. It was perfect. Great jump, great timing. Punt blocks? I don’t know why. … A lot of it’s technique.»

On punt blocks, Folk theorized that punters «want to hit it far to keep their average high and sometimes when guys want to hit it far, they take a little more time to try to do that. And special teams coaches might be a little more aggressive with rushing punts.»

That reasoning also applies to kickers trying to hit longer field goals. The risk of a long field goal is that the kicks come in low.

«As an offense or a field goal unit, imperfect operations drive low kicks on these longer attempts,» said Texans special teams coach Frank Ross, whose team has blocked a punt and a field goal in 2025. «We’re seeing kicks in the middle of the field. So, to get it there, the trajectory is lower. You’ve got an opportunity to get more shots on goal, blocking it with your hands up. I think that’s part of the recipe there.

«But, it might just be a little bit of a fluke where we’ve knocked some down around the league. We have to make sure that every time we walk out as a field goal unit, it’s points. So, that requires perfect operation and perfect blocking execution.»

ESPN reporters Rich Cimini, Tim McManus, Courtney Cronin, Daniel Oyefusi, Brady Henderson, Kevin Seifert, John Keim, Todd Archer and DJ Bien-Aime contributed to this report.

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