NFL Pro Bowl: Experimental rules results
By Daniel Tran
The extra point is now 33 yards instead of 20 yards
Talk about the ultimate gimme. The extra point attempt has been the longest running formality in the NFL for some time now. The league recognized this situation and attempted to experiment with longer extra point attempts in the 2014 preseason. The results were interesting.
After hitting 99.6 percent of their extra point attempts during the 2013 season, NFL kickers converted on 94.3 percent of their attempts during the 2014 preseason with the ball 33 yards away instead of the standard 20. Kickers were still making extra point attempts routinely, but there was no longer absolute certainty like there was in the past.
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In the Pro Bowl, the NFL coupled the thinner goal post with the 33-yard extra point attempt and really dropped the figurative fly in the kickers soup. Parkey had no trouble with his PATs, but Vinatieri was struggling to find his accuracy.
A career 98.6 percent extra point kicker, Vinatieri managed to miss two extra point attempts at the Pro Bowl. The four-time Super Bowl Champion was visibly frustrated.
“If that’s what they’re looking for, well then so be it, but there will be a lot more kicks missed,” Vinatieri explained. “We had a nice night, not a lot of wind or anything. If you get a crummy field and crummy weather, you’re going to have a lot of two-point conversions.”
NFL fans can only hope.
If the extra point is pushed back, this will force more teams to attempt two-point conversions instead of taking a not so guaranteed one point. Coaches would essentially be playing NFL Madden football every week, going for two and running up the score to make sure opposing teams are unable to catch up.
Eliminating extra points should never be an option. Kickers should be able to keep those responsibilities to keep their relevance in the league because they still are important parts of football. Moving the extra-point attempt back has shown that it is still a nearly guaranteed one point, but when the weather worsens or the conditions are not ideal, it will force teams to go for two and make for a more exciting game.