Last year, the Detroit Lions kickoff strategy was relatively simple. For most of the season, they decided it was better to boot it into the endzone and give the offense a touchback—setting the ball at the 30-yard line. Detroit posted the sixth-highest rate in touchbacks in the NFL (77.3%).
A lot of teams adopted the same strategy, figuring that the offense starting there was a better tradeoff than risking a long return. So the NFL made a tweak to this rule, moving the touchback up to the 35-yard line.
Lions special teams coordinator Dave Fipp admitted this will shift their strategy, as giving up field position at the 35-yard line is just too significant an advantage.