Trending

Eagles’ Dirty Kick Sparks a Rules Clarification Meeting

By Matt Schultz

Published: Sep 25th, 2026 · 4:51 PM EDT

---

The Eagles know that with innovation comes backlash. It happened with the tush push, and now it’s happening again: special teams coordinators around the league are reportedly gathering to talk about the Birds and Falcons using a kickoff loophole to do “dirty kicks” — kicks that are held at an angle by a holder, which end up having weird, knuckleball-ish spins that are harder to predict and pick up.

The loophole stems from the old weather rule, which allows teams to bring out a 12th man to physically hold the ball on the tee during inclement conditions. When the kickoff rules were updated two years ago, the weather rule wasn’t amended to explicitly state the weather has to be bad in order to do this, though, and in Week 2 against the Titans, the Birds brought out a 12th man despite the kicking conditions being fine. The move allowed Jake Elliott to blast off a few dirty kicks:

Smart loophole? #Eagles had holder Braden Mann on the field as a 12th man for all but one of Jake Elliott's kickoffs last week.

It's legal under the new kickoff rules, as long as the holder runs off the field after the kick. In this case, it wasn't because of wind. It was to… pic.twitter.com/JFU1Z7lH9f

— Adam Hoge (@AdamHoge) September 24, 2026

And now the Bears’ special teams coordinator, Richard Hightower, is raising a red flag:

Richard Hightower said that special teams coaches who were on the committee to create the new kickoff rules will meet Friday to discuss the rules going forward after the Eagles (in Week 2) and Falcons (in Week 1) used punter Braden Mann to hold the ball during kickoffs. Under the…

— Courtney Cronin (@CourtneyRCronin) September 25, 2026

It’s worth nothing that the Eagles were not the first team to work this loophole this year. That was the Falcons. The Eagles saw them do it in Week 1 and stole the idea for Week 2. The Eagles should still get credit for this, though. This wasn’t a story until the Birds started doing it. And look now… Everyone’s coming for the Eagles… The team with the target on their backs… Heavy lies the crown… Et cetera…

To the rest of the league: Good luck beating the Eagles with “motions” and “committee meetings” and “rules” and “fairness.” I’m proud to know that if this loophole closes, the Birds will simply find some other way to almost-cheat, because that’s what winners do…