The XFL is aiming to capture a piece of the NFL's audience, starting less than a week after the Super Bowl, but the games themselves are markedly different from NFL games.
Ties are decided by modified two-point conversion attempts, rather than a traditional overtime possession, while three-point attempts are an option after touchdowns and extra-point kicks are banned.
Along with a slew of other unique rules, the onside kick is not the only option a team has to get the ball back at the end of a game. The rule flipped a game completely upside down in Week 1 and figures to have an effect on a few more games as the season goes on.
MORE XFL COVERAGE:
Here's what you need to know about the XFL's 4th-and-15 rule.
What is the XFL's 4th-and-15 rule?
Some of the XFL's rules are complicated, but this one isn't. In the fourth quarter, teams can choose between a traditional onside kick or one fourth-and-15 play to immediately regain possession of the ball after a scoring drive.
If a team successfully attempts the fourth-and-15, which is snapped at its own 25-yard line, it gets possession from wherever the ball ends up at the conclusion of the play.
Onside kicks can be attempted at any point during a game, but the alternative is limited to the fourth quarter.
MORE: XFL power rankings: Houston Roughnecks, Arlington Renegades look like teams to beat after Week 1
The Battlehawks stunned the Brahmas using this rule in Week 1, scoring a touchdown after trailing 15-3 and immediately getting the ball back on a 22-yard pass from A.J. McCarron to Austin Proehl.
In the XFL: Instead of an onside kick, the trailing team can maintain possession with a 4th-and-15 play from its own 25-yard line.
— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) February 19, 2023
It just worked for the St. Louis BattleHawks.
This was brought to NFL owners in the past but didn't get enough votes.pic.twitter.com/qNP5QukWMy
The Battlehawks could have attempted an onside kick, but they gambled on a fourth-and-15 pass being the better option and were correct. St. Louis took over where the pass was caught at its own 47-yard line and ultimately won the game with a touchdown.
It was a real-time example of how quickly the rule can flip the result of a game and a tough pill to swallow for the Brahmas, who are just its first victim.
NFL onside kick rules
The NFL currently does not have an alternative to the onside kick. In fact, the onside kick itself is a dying art in the NFL.
In 2018, the league stopped allowing players from getting a running start on kickoffs and onside kicks in an attempt to prevent injuries. That dropped the success rate of onside kicks from 21.4 percent to 7.7 percent in a year. In 2022, only three of 56 attempts were successful.
Some NFL fans want the league to adopt the XFL's alternative onside kick option.
MORE: NFL fans want to adopt XFL's fourth-and-15 onside kick rule after it steals the show in Week 1
While many fans were introduced to the idea for the first time when the XFL kicked off in Week 1, that was not the first time a fourth-and-15 idea came to light. The AAF, a startup spring league in 2019, implemented a fourth-and-12 alternative to the onside kick, though there were even more limits on when it could be used.
The NFL discussed a fourth-and-15 onside kick alternative in 2020 but decided to table the idea. When the Eagles proposed the option in 2021, the measure failed. If fans support the rule in large numbers, its arrival to the NFL might not be far-fetched.
If the alternative is ever implemented at the NFL level, no lead would ever be safe against some of the game's elite quarterbacks.
