NFL may experiment with longer extra points in the preseason

Posted by Michael David Smith on March 3, 2014, 9:25 PM EST
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The NFL may make extra points harder this preseason.

The league is considering having teams line up at the 25-yard line, instead of the 2-yard line, for preseason extra points, according to NFL.com. That would make an extra point the equivalent of a 43-yard field goal, instead of a 20-yard field goal.

“There is no consensus yet,” one Competition Committee member told NFL.com. “We could experiment in preseason, but we are not there yet.”

If the league goes ahead with the experiment of moving the extra point back to the 25, it would presumably leave two-point conversion attempts at the 2-yard line, and teams would be much more likely to go for two. (Perhaps the NFL could invent a three-point conversion for a team that lines up at the 25 to kick an extra point but decides to try to get into the end zone with a fake.)

The league does not appear to be close to any type of consensus about changing the rules on extra points for the regular season. But experimenting with potential changes during the preseason could be a step toward making extra points — currently the NFL’s most boring plays — more interesting.

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77 responses to “NFL may experiment with longer extra points in the preseason”

  4. Goodell. Go back to yuor office and read emails all day. Leave the game alone.

  6. The most boring play is the kneel down. Get rid of that and let the clock just wind down once it is evident that the game has been decided.

  7. Oh boy, here come all the “don’t change the game fundamentalists”.

    Seems like if all these commenters had their way, the game would still be played in leather helmets and the forward pass would be illegal. The game has, and will always change.

  8. That’s too far. 32 yards sounds about right to me. Can u imagine a 42 yard extra point in the Philly game with a foot of snow.

  9. hey it is Lebron’s Fav Chief!

    I actually like the PaT, as IMO it is the exclamation point on the TD, and gives more time for celebration, or at home and losing, booing.

  10. WHY?

    I have never seen such disrespect for the game of American football as I have from Roger Goodell and some of the owners.

    It’s like Goodell and some of the owners are not happy unless they are causing some kind of turmoil, trying to find another way to change the most popular game in American…”tackle football”.

    Goodell…just stop, will you?…stop screwing with the game, OK?

    …take your $44 million and enjoy yourself and show some respect for the game of football.

  15. I like the old WFL rule for the 70’s. A TD is worth 7 and you run/pass it over from the 2 yards line for 1, they called it an action point.

    To spice it up I’d go with that rule and give the option of getting 2 points by converting from the 10 yard line, then 9 points would be a one possession game.

  16. 112 years ago when the rule was made, it wasnt automatic. Now it is. Its pretty pointless to kick it now, what is it, one miss a year on average? Make it more difficult like rule was meant to be.

  19. “Perhaps the NFL could invent a three-point conversion for a team that lines up at the 25 to kick an extra point but decides to try to get into the end zone with a fake.”

    I actually don’t hate that idea.

  21. The best fix would be having the player that scored the TD kick the XP. Can you imagine guys like Marshawn Lynch, Calvin Johnson, DeSean Jackson, Jamaal Charles, etc trying to boot the ball in?

  22. They’re totally going to make it impossible to determine who was the best PAT kicker of all-time 50 years from now. Good luck setting that debate with 2 completely different eras to consider. Start figuring out who your favorite pre-change PATer is now.

  23. Why would you want to decrease the amount of tied games and especially OT with a dumb change like this? Goodell needs to retire….

  27. I am okay with making it longer but 23 yards longer?! Why such an arbitrary amount? Did they think “well 10 yards extra isn’t enough but 24 yards longer might be too much…” You want it longer? Bump it out to a 30 yard attempt. Simple solution. And legit.

  28. Personally, I think it would be awesome to have 1, 2 or 3 point options. Manning, Brady, Brees, etc. with the ball, 1 minute left, down by 9 just got a lot more exciting.

  29. XP’s are meaningless snaps in an era of trying to make the game safer. The NFL should take away that one extra snap and possible blow to the head. If they want to go for two let them go for two. Otherwise why not make a TD worth 7 pts

  32. Why don’t they just eliminate kicking extra points all together. It’s football, not soccer.

  40. It’s really simple. If there is to be a change, line the ball up on the 10. Kick it for one point, or go for it and get 3. I don’t want any changes. The current system is fine. If this was about safety, Goodell wouldn’t be pushing an 18 game season, expansion of the playoffs, suspending players for only 4 games for taking steroids, and that’s only to name a few.

  41. If they insist on changing the extra point, wouldn’t the easiest and most logical solution be to just force teams to go for two after all TDs? If extra points are currently considered automatic, then this really isn’t taking away from a kicker’s relevance, as field goals and kickoffs should/would remain unchanged.

  42. What does this have to do with how awful the Vikings are? Even the Browns point at them and laugh.

  44. All these people bashing Goodell…… He’s not even on the competition committee. He’s made a bunch of mistakes and I really don’t like the way he’s made football softer but he’s not really the guy to blame here. Educate yourselves a little bit before you play the blame game.

    The extra point has a 99.6 percent success rate it doesn’t real have any purpose. There’s no other play or situation in organized sports like it.

    Personally I’d like to see a touchdown count as 7 each time and a team could still opt to go for two if they wish.

  45. Some idiots were openly speaking of just eliminating the extra point all together and just making a touchdown 7 points automatically.

    Now THAT was a bad idea.

    Making the extra point more of a challenge as opposed to nearly automatic?
    I’m not opposed to that at all.

    They’ve messed enough with the rules to make life a lot easier on the offense now. So make the extra point little more challenging.

  47. Nfl suits should be on the madden cover so they can get the jinx since they ruining the game we grew up watching n enjoying. Football use to be fun to watch n play but now its annoying

  48. If there has to be a change, limit the snap to hold distance to 5yds instead of 7 or 8.

    Place to ball on the 5 and go for two or kick from the 10.

  49. I actually like this idea if the two options are get rid of it altogether or move it back to the 25. This could make games more strategic and intense. No extra point(s) after a touchdown would be near automatic like they are now.

  52. line the defense up on the goal line and play a game of Red Rover with the kicker, wait make that a new position, the Rover Back(not to be confused with a roving linebacker). If he breaks through,extra point! And he’s allowed to dance in the end zone.

  53. blacknole08 says:

    If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

    ———————————————–

    I think it is broke… kickers have gotten so good they nearly never miss anymore, so why even have the try if it isn’t contributing to game strategy?

    99.6% of extra points were made in 2013… 86% of 40-45 yard field goals were made

    if they moved it back to a 43 yard try, there will be many more 2 point tries, esp in bad weather, and extra points will get missed 14% of the time so there will be more angles to the game.

  54. When this was brought up a few months ago, everyone was clamoring for a change and offering suggestions on how to make this more interesting. Now that it’s becoming a real possibility, you’re all crying about it.

    Maybe considering a rule change is the result of public feedback and Goodell is doing this for the fans? I, for one, think moving this back is a great idea, and anyone that tells me they wait until after the extra point to pee or get another beer is lying to my face. (Unless you have the kicker on your fantasy squad and you want to taunt your friends.)

  58. In rugby the ‘extra point’ is taken in a line parallel to where the try (TD) was scored. So in the NFL such a rule would mean that TDs scored in the corners of the end zone would have to be kicked from far out on the pitch.

    But anyway, I’m just joshing – from the UK I see the impact of Rugby in the NFL, although it has of course moved on significantly since then.

    On this issue, my feeling is – leave it alone. I think only 4 missed Eps last season, but when it DOES happen, it can make a close game very interesting.

  59. Bill Belichick’s idea during the season was the best one I heard. Skip the extra point kick. Count touchdowns as seven points and if they want to get an extra point by running a play and succeed, it would be one more point or 8 like it is now.

    It would speed the game up and Lord knows, the game could use that.

  60. Either make the player who scored the TD kick the XP, or leave them as-is but make them drop-kicks. Can you imagine a kicker attempting a drop-kick on Washington’s lousy turf? Comedy gold!

  61. The PAT should be tried from the 35 yard line,some will miss but some will make it with the end result being intent interest and excitment in PATs instead of the time wasting automatic kick they have now.

  62. Make the rule that someone who was on the field for the TD has to kick the extra point. No more specialty player (kicker) allowed to come in for the point after. The conversion rate would plummet and teams would start going for 2.

  64. Change to Rugby rules. Kicker has to kick from where the ball crossed into the endzone. Still need to kick from the 2. No longer a gimmie..or easy. Remove defense from the field if it is a safety issue. Teams can go for 2, but they need to declare.

    Changes the whole game. Teams will go for 2 points pretty much every time there is a corner fade route TD instead of the crazy angle kick.

  66. The almost automatic PAT is a good thing. It makes going for two very interesting because it isn’t a gimmie, and that rare PAT misses often becomes a huge blunder that changes the course of the game. Don’t mess with it and for god’s sakes don’t even consider a 3 point conversion.

  68. while they are tinkering with it; how about allowing a return on blocked kicks/interceptions/fumble recoveries on extra points with the returning team getting the points that would have been scored on the play?

  69. Changing the XP is just plain stupid. I think it’s good to have even though the success rate is extremely high. Still there are those few missed XPs that can make or break a game and cause differences of strategy.

    But if they were planning on moving back the XP why do so to where it is more difficult than most FGs? It’s 1 point, not 3, 4 or 5. I understand change is good sometimes but the NFL seems to take some things to extremes under Roger Goodell. This rule needs to be left alone.

  70. It is definitely broken, but I don’t agree with this as the best way to fix it. Kickers already have enough influence in the outcome of games due to field goals, I don’t really care to see their influence increase even further due to success or failure on long extra point tries. I much prefer the “automatic point” proposal previously floated, where you could either just take the one without having to kick it or go for two if you want and wind up with six if you fail, basically that’s the status quo other than removing the tedious charade of actually kicking the extra point.

  74. How about the Dropkick?
    Used to be done in the good ole days. It was performed in 2006 with Doug Flutie successfully performing one for an extra point.
    A little bit of old school football with a nod to rugby…

  75. Personally, I’m still pissed about the end of sudden death overtime. That was always the coolest thing in sports. At the end of regulation you flip a coin, kick the ball off, and play until someone scores. Perfect. Why they had to mess with that, I’ll never know. It was the most exciting thing ever.

    By the way, the concept of shootouts in pseudo-sports like hockey and soccer is totally bogus. Shootouts have nothing to do with how the games are actually played. They are ludicrous and should never have happened.

  76. For everyone who thinks there is no reason to continually push to improve the game, in the name of tradition, I give you one of the hismtorically dramaric mis-management and loss of competitive advantage ever. It is known by all 10 people under the age of 40 who stillwatch it as baseball

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