NFL may test 43 yard extra point in pre-season

[ThomasTomasz]

Back in January, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said the league was exploring the possibility of someday eliminating extra points.

"The extra point is almost automatic. I believe we had five missed extra points this year out of 1,200 some odd," Goodell said at the time. "So it's a very small fraction of the play, and you want to add excitement with every play."

One way to add excitement to the extra point is to make the kick longer and that's exactly what the competition committee is discussing. According to NFL.com, the league is in the very early stages of a discussion that could lead to extra points being moved back from the 2-yard line to the 25-yard-line for the 2014 preseason. That would make the kick a 43-yard attempt instead of a 20-yard attempt.

"There is no consensus yet," a competition committee member told NFL.com. "We could experiment in preseason, but we are not there yet."

If you're wondering how automatic extra points have become, NFL kickers hit 1,262 out of 1,267 extra points in 2013. That's a 99.6 percent conversion rate.

It's actually even more impressive when you consider that four of the five missed kicks in 2013 were blocked. The only kicker who flat-out missed an extra point in 2013 was Blair Walsh, who sent an extra point wide right in a 27-23 Vikings loss to the Cowboys in Week 9.

If the NFL were to make the extra point a 43-yard attempt, there would almost certainly be more than Walsh's one miss. NFL kickers hit 83 percent of their kicks in 2013 between 40 and 49 yards, but not every kicker was near that average.

Several kickers hit less than 75 percent of their attempts from that range, including Lions kicker David Akers, who only connected on 57.1 percent of his kicks between 40 and 49 yards. Detroit isn't expected to re-sign Akers for 2014.

Of course, if this 43-yard thing doesn't work out, the NFL could always go with Nick Folk's idea. The Jets kicker, who was hit with the franchise tag on Friday, would like to see the NFL use narrower uprights for extra point attempts. And lets not forget most entertaining idea: Let the player who scores the touchdown kick the extra point.

http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/eye-on...loring-43-yard-extra-point-for-2014-preseason

 

[MrBill]

Good, the extra point is the least exciting play in the NFL. I would be fine with making it longer or using narrower posts on extra point attempts.

 

[Warner2BruceTD]

Hmm...making PAT's more difficult...I wonder what will follow that...

A thread bump, for one thing.

One day you goofs will start listening to me.

 

[ThomasTomasz]

Hmm...making PAT's more difficult...I wonder what will follow that...

A thread bump, for one thing.

One day you goofs will start listening to me.

I'd still like to see the scorer of the touchdown kick the extra point, we'd get some lulz similar to Bartolo Colon trying to hit a baseball. Maybe better.

 

[Shayn•Da•Pain]

I'd still like to see the scorer of the touchdown kick the extra point, we'd get some lulz similar to Bartolo Colon trying to hit a baseball. Maybe better.

THAT is a good idea.

Two players I immediately want to see kick FGs with that in mind are Megatron and Sproles. Or any 300+ lineman. lol

 

[JOHNNYTHECLOWN]

I like it

I'd watch a 43 yard attempt with some care as to if the kicker could make it or not, I think it might separate the skill of kickers too

 

[Tengo Juego]

I guess this is good. If teams continue to trot out an XP team to try this, it doesn't make it exciting, necessarily. At least not to me. But I hope coaches just say fuck it and go for 2 more often. Looking at you McCarthy.

 

[KINGOFOOTBALL]

Player who scores kicks...dear god that would be hysterical for a season.

 

[JimLeavy59]

Fuck off with this bullshit.

 

[ram29jackson]

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sport...nt-proposal-adam-vinatieri-jay-feely/6041539/

Adam Vinatieri, arguably the NFL's best clutch kicker and whose 2,006 career points rank fifth in league history, says player safety is why the league's competition committee should end discussions to make extra points more difficult — such as a proposal to move the line of scrimmage for the kicks from the traditional 2-yard-line back to the 25.

"I don't understand the logic: Will it make the game safer for people by moving the extra point back to a 43-yarder? If anything, players are going to rush harder because they're thinking, 'That far of a field goal-type try, we have to go after blocking it more,' " Vinatieri told USA TODAY Sports on Tuesday. "If you want to talk about potential risk, more guys get injured on a field goal than extra point.

"It definitely will change the game. For the better? I'm not sure."

Asked if an unintended consequence of more potential two-point conversion attempts would be to expose more marquee players to potential injury, Vinatieri says, "I agree 100%."

Vinatieri, 41, appeared ageless during one of his best seasons in 2013. He hopes to play another "two, three years" preferably with the Indianapolis Colts, who hope to re-sign him before free agency begins March 11.

FTW: NFL mulls major change for PATs

Vinatieri spoke out for the fraternity of NFL kickers, insisting they shouldn't be penalized for making the game look so easy.

Last season, NFL kickers converted 99.6% of PAT attempts — five misses in 1,267 attempts — prompting the discussion to make the kicks more difficult.

"This just seems like a proposal by a couple of people trying to pound their chest a little saying, 'Let's change it up because kickers are too good,' " says Vinatieri, who last season was 35-for-40 on field goals, including 4-for-6 on attempts from beyond 50 yards.

"They're trying to downgrade our value versus continuing to put an emphasis on kicking. They're trying to minimize the importance of kickers. I'm a traditionalist. If it's not broke, don't fix it," Vinatieri said.

Commissioner Roger Goodell even raised the possibility of eliminating extra points altogether.

Vinatieri cited Denver Broncos kicker Matt Prater, who hit all 75 of his PATs last season.

"Three-fourths of the time, he won't get to step on the field to kick an extra point? That's crazy and it devalues us as kickers," Vinatieri says.

Veteran Arizona Cardinals kicker Jay Feely doubts any potential experimentation with longer extra points, such as in the preseason, will lead to a change for the 2014 regular season.

"I don't think this passes right away. I don't think it's a pressing need," Feely told USA TODAY Sports.

Feely acknowledges, however, the days of the near-automatic extra point are likely numbered. He would prefer to see longer extra points than have them disappear.

For 10 years, Feely, 37, has been automatic on PATs.

"You don't penalize a baseball closer for being great, you celebrate that. You should do the same thing with kickers," Feely says. "If you're going to change the extra-point rule, I'd rather see you change it and still have it as part of the game than eliminate it."

Longer extra points would cause coaches to think a little harder about whether to kick or go for a two-point conversion, Feely says, but he thinks most teams would still opt to kick.

"A change would create more strategy because you'd have to decide if you'd want to kick it or go for two points because about 80% was average for 43-yard field goals last season," Feely said. "You're going to still trust your kicker to go out there and make 43-yard extra points."

Still, Feely says, it will cause more drama.

"Somebody is going to miss a critical extra point," he said. "So that coach is going to think harder about whether or not he likes his 2-point play."