Playbooks
Landingzone Safety Kick Right is a special teams kickoff play run out of the Safety Kickoff formation, designed to direct the ball toward the right hash and sideline. The kicking team's coverage unit releases downfield with lane assignments biased to the right side of the field, funneling the return toward pursuit angles and gunners who are stacked to that side. This is not a man or zone beater in the traditional offensive sense: it is a directional coverage kick meant to limit big return lanes by controlling field position before the returner ever touches the ball.
Watch the return team's blocking wall pre-snap: if they are shifted right, the return scheme is designed to counter this exact kick direction, so consider audibling to Landingzone Safety Kick Left. Post-kick, key the wedge blockers forming near the right sideline since they dictate whether the returner cuts inside or stays outside. Identify the returner's depth at the point of the catch, a deep catch near the goal line combined with a right-directed kick often forces a predictable outside return that your gunners should be leveraging with outside-in pursuit. If the return team shows a heavy personnel look similar to what you'd see against Landingzone Heavy Safety Kick Right, expect double-team blocks on your right side gunner, so user that defender to fight for outside contain rather than getting sealed inside. Track the up-man or safety on the return unit, a fast trigger downhill toward the right sideline signals a designed return to that side, which this kick's coverage lanes are built to funnel and constrict.
Use this kick when you want to pin the return team's rushers toward the numbers on the right side and prevent them from finding an open middle lane.
Take manual control of your fastest coverage player (usually a gunner or outside special teamer) immediately after the kick to close on the ball rather than relying on the CPU pursuit angles.
Pair this with Landingzone Safety Kick Left across multiple kickoffs in the same game to keep the return team guessing on directional tendencies and prevent them from setting up return blocking schemes.
Best used in situations where you have a lead and want to shorten the field, since directional kicks to the right sideline reduce the returner's cutback lanes.
If the opposing return unit stacks blockers to the right pre-snap, consider switching to Landingzone Safety Kick Left or Landingzone Safety Kick Middle to avoid kicking directly into a loaded return lane.