Eagles coach Chip Kelly recently dumped on the NFL's the new extra point rule, which moves kicks back to the 15-yard line next season. He's not the only head coach miffed with the change.
Cincinnati's Marvin Lewis believes turning PATs from a 20-yard boot to a 33-yarder will specifically hurt teams in the cold-weather AFC North.
"I've not been for it," Lewis said, per The Cincinnati Enquirer. "Nothing was wrong with what we had. In this division it makes a big difference, a huge difference. It's a disadvantage for our division because we are playing in it all the time."
While Kelly argues the new rules don't "entice you to go for two more," Lewis told reporters that he expects many more two-point conversions in tilts featuring heavy winds or clunky kickers. Still, swinging for the fences isn't Marvin's style.
"If you are going to score less than 50 percent of the time why would you go for two and have a negative play after a positive play? It makes no sense," Lewis said. "If you are going to score 40 percent of the time, to have a negative play after a positive play makes no sense to deflate your football team like that."
While Bengals kicker Mike Nugent has connected on 20 of 22 field goals from 30 to 35 yards since landing in Cincy, The Enquirer noted that visiting kickers since 2010 have hit just 82.5 percent of their attempts from that distance in AFC North stadiums.
We don't expect the new PAT rules to create much fuss, but teams housing fringe kickers might encounter trouble -- especially in the swirling late-season gusts of the Rust Belt.
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