The extra point is the surest of sure things in the NFL, with more than 99 percent of attempts successful. In fact, it’s such a sure thing that there are some concerns in the league that the play has become too boring, and even useless.
That’s why the league is continuing to tinker with the extra point, with two new proposals on the agenda for next week’s league meeting.
The first proposal is a bizarre one from the Colts that would allow teams to try a 50-yard bonus kick for an extra point after two-point conversions. That would mean a team could score nine points on one possession, with a touchdown, a two-point conversion and the bonus kick. For now, the plan is only to try that in the preseason, but even that may not pass, as the league probably isn’t ready for such a significant change in scoring.
The second proposal is more straightforward, and follows up on an experiment conducted last preseason: The Patriots are asking that the league change the rules so that extra point kicks are snapped from the 15-yard line, while two-point conversions remain at their current spot, the 2-yard line. The idea there is to make extra points a little more difficult, and therefore make teams a little more likely to go for two. That proposal seems like a long shot as well, although the fact that it was tried last preseason means the league at least has an idea of how it would work.
A change to extra points is possible, but it doesn’t seem to have a lot of momentum. We’re probably heading into yet another year when extra points are little more than a little extra time for fans to go to the bathroom between a touchdown and the ensuing kickoff.