Is the NFL’s new extra point rule much ado about nothing?
It is according to Raiders special teams coach Brad Seely, who said in an interview on SiriusXM NFL Radio that he thinks an extra point kick snapped from the 15-yard line is still close to a sure thing, while a two-point conversion attempt from the 2-yard line is still less than a 50-50 proposition.
“The ball is still on the 2, if you want to go for two, the conversion rate is 48 percent. The kickers are going to have to prove that they can’t convert those kicks from the 15,” Seely said.
Although there has been some talk that the extra point now becomes a harder play in bad weather, Seely doesn’t see it that way.
“It cracks me up, all these teams that are in the north are saying they’re at a disadvantage, they’re not at a disadvantage. They’re playing the other team on the same field. Let’s say you’re in Buffalo and there’s a blizzard going on, that’s going to maybe changing your thinking. The other part of that is, you still have to score from the 2 in a blizzard,” Seely said.
What does change for a special teams coach is that a blocked extra point can now be returned by the defense. Seely said he made a point of explaining that rule before it was even officially voted on.
“We were just coaching that up yesterday in the OTA for our field goal team,” Seely said. “I said they’re going to change the rules today probably and we always have it in there on a PAT in a fire situation – throw it up. Nothing bad is going to happen. Just let it go. Now you’ve got to treat those PATs like field goals, you got to make good decisions if you’re the holder or the kicker with the ball. You can’t do a Garo Yepremian, and throw it up in the air, now it could easily be two points.”
That’s a discussion every special teams coach will have to have with his players. But other than that, the new extra point rule may not change much about the way special teams are coached in the NFL.