NFL Pro Bowl: Experimental rules results
By Daniel Tran
Field goal post width reduced from 18.6 feet to 14 feet
Remember when any field goal from within 40 yards was considered so automatic that some football fans took the opportunity to hit the head while they were setting up for the kick? Say goodbye to those days with this rule.
With thinner goal posts, the margin for error on each kick is amplified and even the slightest push will send the ball off course. Three points are no longer a given and the value of a kicker with range and accuracy should sky rocket if this rule gets implemented.
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Adam Vinatieri came into the game hitting 90.4 percent of his field goals within 40 yards over the span of his career and he was coming off a career-best 96.8 percent converting field goals this season. He would end up barely missing a 38-yard field goal for Team Irvin at the end of the third quarter. A field goal he would’ve hit with the standard goal post.
“Anytime you make our job more difficult, no kicker is going to be happy with that,” Vinatieri stated after the game. “Ask a receiver if we should take their gloves off because they catch the ball too well, nobody is going to be overly happy about that. I understand that the wheels of change are in motion and people want to change stuff, but I feel bad for the young bucks that will have to deal with that their whole career.”
While the rule change will affect the percentages of master kickers like Vinatieri and Cody Parkey, there is no doubt that it makes the game more exciting. Teams will be forced to go deeper into opposing territory before even thinking about kicking a field goal, and four down territory will be measured more by yards than by time remaining like it currently is now.
50-yard bombs from Matt Prater and Sebastian Janikowski will be missed, but only until fans see Matt Stafford slinging the ball to Calvin Johnson more to keep drives alive instead of settling for three points early. Also, when kickers attempt 50-yard field goals and hit them, it will make their accomplishment all the more impressive. This rule should be installed sooner rather than later.