NFL make XPs longer for the preseason
For the first 2 weeks of the NFL preseason at least, they will move extra point kicks back to the 20 yard line.
Anybody here think this become a permanant change? How does it affect 2-point conversions? If I'm an NFL coach, I seriously consider going for 2 after each touchdown.
Anybody think this will trickle down to the college game?
March 26th, 2014 at 12:43 PM ^
March 26th, 2014 at 12:57 PM ^
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!
March 27th, 2014 at 11:57 AM ^
I like it. The 25 would have been more interesting but something's better than nothing.