In N.F.L., Punts, and Returns, Get Longer It was a rookie mistake made by a 21-year-old punt returner who had the audacity to break one of football's golden rules. St. Louis Rams punter Donnie Jones blasted a 54-yard punt in overtime last season against Arizona. The Cardinals" Patrick Peterson backpedaled nearly to the goal line to catch the ball and, as he later put it, "ran for his life." Several jukes, broken tackles and one spin move later, Peterson tiptoed into the end zone with a winning 99-yard touchdown return. Three weeks later, Peterson burned Jones and his teammates again, this time with an 80-yard touchdown return off a beautiful 55-yard punt. In the aftermath, fans and reporters in St. Louis demanded to know why Jones did not punt the ball out of bounds, but few asked two more pertinent questions: why did Jones punt the ball so far, and why couldn't his teammates tackle Peterson? Thirty years ago, just five punts were returned for touchdowns all season, and as recently as 2009, there were only nine (though there were higher totals in previous seasons). This year, there were five punt-return touchdowns in the first two weeks, and last year, punt returners averaged 9.9 yards a return and returned 20 punts for touchdowns, making it probably the best season in N.F.L. history for return men. Peterson returned four punts for touchdowns in his rookie season; the return standout Mel Gray had three in a 12-year career in the 1970s and "80s. At the same time, punters are booting the ball longer than ever. Last season, the league gross average was 45 yards, the longest ever, and this year, it is 46.2. Andy Lee, the San Francisco 49ers" punter, who averaged almost 51 yards a punt last year, says the robust numbers are the result of increased professionalization of the position and, to a lesser degree, the fact that the kickoff spot was moved to the 35 from the 30 last year, pushing offenses back. Until five years ago, no one in the history of the N.F.L. had a 40-yard net average; we did that here in Chicago last year but were only No. 6 in the league," said Bears punter Adam Podlesh, who added that even with the impressive statistics, he "almost never" hits the ball as hard as he can because he does not want to outpunt his coverage unit. Are punt returners thriving in part because bigger, stronger punters have taken the position to new heights? Have players on coverage teams forgotten how to tackle? Or has a fear of concussions caused them to lose some of the reckless abandon that once defined the special-teams player? That punters and punt returners are thriving at the same time is not a coincidence. Most fans assume that unless their team is in the opponents" half of the field, the punter should blast the ball as far as possible, but according to players and coaches, that is not necessarily the case. Steve Hoffman, the Raiders" special-teams coach, says that nearly all the punt-return touchdowns scored by Devin Hester, the Chicago Bears" standout who holds the career record with 12, have come on punts of 50 yards or more. Returners are harder to tackle once they have a head of steam, and even the great ones need space to move. Given this dynamic, special-teams coaches tend to value punters who induce fair catches. The rub is that punters often have little job security, and they are still judged largely by their gross and net averages. "Coaches harp about "no returns," and that's great for that coach and that team, but you also have to think about yourself," said Josh Bidwell, a former All-Pro punter who retired in 2011. Is that going to help me stand out, get a bigger contract and have a 10-year career? Hoffman said teams sometimes used an unselfish punter's statistics against him in contract negotiations."They'll tell the punter, "Don't average over 40 yards a punt, with a 39 net," " he said, "and then he does that for you, but when his contract is up, the team will say, "Well, you were 18th in the league." " Steve Tasker, the former Buffalo Bills special-teams standout who is now an analyst for CBS, sought to explain the trend of longer returns, saying that before the imposition of the salary cap, more teams were willing to carry several special-teams specialists on their rosters. "Most special-teams players now are new guys who've been relegated to special teams without any experience," Tasker said. "That's part of the reason you see so many guys missing tackles on returns."Bidwell pointed to replacement referees" missing illegal blocks as a potential explanation for this year's spike in return touchdowns, while Hoffman and Kevin Spencer, the Cardinals" special-teams coach, said teams had less opportunity to practice return coverage live because of injury concerns and rules that limit practice time. "There used to be a lot more tackling and contact in training camp and practice," Hoffman said. "But teams have to be so much more protective of their players because if you lose some key guys, you're done."The return game has inherent risks, and players are more aware of concussions than ever before. Last season, two Giants players acknowledged that they had focused on 49ers punt returner Kyle Williams, who fumbled two punts in the N.F.C. championship game, based on his history of concussions. But players and coaches interviewed for this article said special-teams players could not demonstrate a fear of injury because they had so little job security. "When you sit in a meeting room with all your peers and watch the game film with your team, and they rewind the same play 20 times and you were dogging it or you looked scared - that type of peer pressure is stronger than any desire to protect your head," Bidwell said. You know if you don't look aggressive, you'll be out of a job. No matter why punt returners are having more success, a play that often provided an opportune time for fans to take a bathroom break is becoming one not to miss. And the coaches of talented returners like Peterson and Hester have been forced to rethink the sport's unwritten rules. "The risk/reward is so great that I'd be foolish to build a Berlin Wall on the 10-yard line and tell Patrick not to step behind it," Spencer said.