NFL make XPs longer for the preseason

A 37-yard attempt is still a gimme. Decent FG kickers should make at least 95% of those, 90% in the worst case.

If you have a shaky kicker, though, it does make you consider the 2 point pay off from 2 yards away.

Little to no impact on the NFL if they do that. It gives the appearance of being more difficult. In college it would be a game changer. I think I recall our kickers going like 4-14 one season during the RR era, and 37 yards would've been like trying to shoot a running rabbit with a $3 pistol. 

This is a good thing. The normal 20-yard PAT is, for the most part, pointless and I really think it should be moved back. Obviously there have been games won and lost with the PAT, but not many when taking into account the amount of football games (on all levels) have been played.

All in favor.  I read where some kickers were complaining this kind of change would legislate them out of the game and make their position far less important.  I really don't think they get it.  Such a change would make their position much more valuable.  Why pay more for a kicker if any asshole kicker can make the kick?  But if the range of success in the league becomes 85% to 95% on XPs, that's a real difference.  A good kicker becomes that much more important and teams will be willing to fork out when they find one.

I would go for two every time. I would also go for it on every 4th down and onside every kick off.

I actually remember hearing about a HS coach a while back who did things like this because the sucess percentages were good enough for him to try.

us Saints fans will never take another XP for granted, no matter where its kicked from. thx John Carney

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kTGco82JKHo

What will happen is that kickers will get really good at kicking extra points from 20 yards out.  Natural evolution and everything, you know.  

I'm in favor of them going rugby-style and kicking from the part of the field you score on.

This will just make kickers hit longer field goals more consistently. They'll be kicking a lot more game time pressured kicks. So I guess you'll see a lot more dramatic end of game FGs.

over something that was such a non-issue. Sitting on the sidelines is pretty easy too; we should add boobie traps and live bears to the side line to make it more difficult. Seriously, I don't ever remember watching an extra point and thinking "You know what? I need more excitement. STIMULATE ME MORE NFL." In an over analyzed league with terrible,terrible announcers in abundance, a concussion problem that is both a huge PR problem and an actual health risk, players who wreck their bodies and rutinely end up broke, the fact that there are like two minutes of non-stress per game seems like such a non-issue. 

Do teams ever line up to kick an extra point, and then fake it to attempt a two point conversion?  I don't really recall ever seeing that.  Fake field goals, sure.  Fake extra points, not so much.

Screw kickers' feelings.

Totally better idea is what's been floated as the no-kick alternative -- all TD's are worth 7 points, but, if you "go for 2" (really, now, "go for 1") you get 8 points if you make it and 6 if you don't.  So the economics are the same -- the 2-point conversion represents a difference of 6 versus 8 points; if you don't try the 2-pointer, you get 7 points.  So no kicking XP's, no stupid extra play that's automatic anyway.

But what can I say, I also like the idea of replacing the kickoff with a 4th-and-25 at the 35 yard line, so you normally would punt (not kick off) or, instead of the "onside" kickoff, you would line up with your offense to go for it (but only Ray Rice, however, will actually be able to make that conversion, if he's not, you know, in jail).

Make kickers convert the extra point rugby style. The kick can be made from any distance, but it has to be in the line of where the touchdown was scored.

Have different length XP worth different amounts. For instance, a kick from the 20 is one point. One from the 40 is two points and one from the 50 is 3 points. Makes for a lot more strategy.

I think this is a great idea. While a 37 footer is still easy for a NFL kicker, it at least makes them think about kicking it rather than just purely autopilot. We also will see a few missed PATS here and there which will be nice.

the arena league has the right idea ... narrow the goalpost.  Leave the XP at 20 yards - but narrow the goal posts by about 30%.  This would also make FG's a much more risky attempt at points.  The NFL hash marks make FG's routine because there is no angle.   Totally stupid idea to make the kick longer ... idiotic!

I wouldn't mind seeing a narrowing of the goalpost in the college game too, but not as much as the pro's ... maybe something like 10%. 

Go Blue!

Why not the 23, so it's a 40-yd kick?

Interesting: 3 of the top 10 FG kickers of 2013 have misses in the 30s, but not in the 40s.

I think it is funny that we all debate the validity of the extra point, two-point conversion and monkeying with them from a football stand point, but that is irrelevant to the conversation.  The NFL is screwing around with it because people complain about all of the time and meaningless activity now between a touchdown and the next series.

They aren't trying to make extra points more competitive or harder for kickers.  They are trying to keep everyone from using the 10 minute break between real plays as bathroom and food breaks. 

They should just give the auto-point with an option to risk it for 2 and speed up the game.  

Before they had finally decided to test this out in the preseason, USA Today did interview a few kickers about the possibility of a rule change, including our own Jay Feely. Here's what Jay had to say about it:

"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."

He also mentioned that he did believe that the days of near-automatic PATs were coming to an end, but he said that even with this sort of change, you'd still see a lot of coaches opting for a kick. 

Pure football is more like Australian rules, where the object is to gain field position in order to make the kick easier.

I'd like to see graduate points for FGs, but more points for being closer.  If you score a TD, you kick the XP for 7, but if you miss the XP, you get zero.

It'd also be great b/c it would make fantasy football have to change to put the emphasis where it should be--yards, not points.

So if you promise to kick, you run a play from the 20, and if you promise to go for it, you run a play from the 2?  Sounds complicated.

What would be wrong with just making the goalposts half as wide as they are now?  This would also encourage teams to go for it more often in opponents' territory, which would be more exciting than essentially giving teams an automatic 3 points as soon as they cross the 30.  It's not like the NFL would struggle to afford a few new pieces of metal.  Plus, less room to be dunked on!

Why would you go for two when you have a kicker that can probably hit 50 yard field goals consistently? I don't think it really changes all that much.

And make everyone go for two. That will keep people in their seats and add variability - one play from two yards out is pretty much a crapshoot for every NFL team.

I like it.  The 25 would have been more interesting but something's better than nothing.