The extra point has become the NFL's great afterthought. Could a substantial change be on the horizon?
NFL Media's Judy Battista reports the NFL Competition Committee is in preliminary talks about placing the ball at the 25-yard line for the point-after attempt. That would make the extra point a 43-yard attempt.
The ball is currently spotted at the 2-yard line, a 20-yard chip shot that was converted 99.6 percent of the time during the 2013 season. The kick was so automatic that NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell floated the idea in January of eliminating the PAT entirely.
"There is no consensus yet," one member of the committee told Battista. "We could experiment in preseason, but we are not there yet."
Placing the ball at the 25-yard line would certainly increase the degree of difficulty for kickers. The conversion rate of field goals between 40 and 49 yards last season was 83 percent.
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Those odds are still favorable, but it adds another layer of strategy for coaches who also have the option to attempt a two-point conversion. Teams that "go for two" are typically successful about 50 percent of the time.
Change is probably overdue. Kickers have never been better at their jobs than they are right now. These are skilled specialists who have outgrown the model. The game must evolve with the players.
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