Could The NFL Move Extra Points Back Over 20 Yards?
By Adam Carlson
Feb 1, 2014; New York, NY, USA; NFL commissioner Roger Goodell speaks at the Super Bowl XLVIII handoff ceremony to the Arizona host committee on Super Bowl Boulevard on Broadway. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
Recently, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said that the NFL was discussing yet another rule change in their competition committees. This time, it is the distance that an extra point must be kicked.
There has been some talk of eliminating the extra point totally, but moving the kick from the two yard line to the twenty five yard line could make things a lot more interesting when it comes to how “automatic” they had become in previous seasons. Last year, 1,267 extra points were kicked. Only five of them were missed.
Dec 15, 2013; Minneapolis, MN, USA; Minnesota Vikings kicker Blair Walsh (3) kicks off to the Philadelphia Eagles in the first quarter at Mall of America Field at H.H.H. Metrodome. The Vikings win 48-30. Mandatory Credit: Bruce Kluckhohn-USA TODAY Sports
Moving the kick to the 25 yard line would make the kick a 42 yard attempt. That is far from automatic in today’s NFL. In fact, only 7 kickers in the NFL hit all their attempts from 40-49 yards last years. And Vikings placekicker Blair Walsh was not one of them.
Would moving the extra points back 23 yards help make games more exciting? Would it add enough difficulty not to make it a formality?
Personally, I believe so. I prefer this idea to the automatic 7 points for a touchdown and hope that this is one rule that the NFL’s competition committee works hard to get approved.