A Day All Kickers Would Miss

Published on 21-Nov-2016 by CJ

Football - NFL    NFL Daily Update

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A Day All Kickers Would Miss

Once upon a time the extra point was a boring event.

How sure a thing was the PAT?

In 2014, NFL kickers made 99.3% of them.

There's not much anyone living a normal life can do right 99% of the time. Viewers rarely stay tuned for sure things.

In order to spice up the game, the league decided to move the PAT from the 2-yard line back to the 15-yard line.

Year One of the change saw the PAT kick conversion rate fall to 94.2%.

That's still damn close to robotic, but there were moments.

Like in last season's AFC Championship game, where Stephen Gostkowski’s missed extra point -- his first one in nearly 10 years -- lost the Patriots the game.

At the very least, the miss caused the Pats to have to go for two on the game’s final play:

2016 has been none the nicer to NFL kickers. Prior to the Week 11 games, those dudes were on pace for a slight uptick to 94.8% conversion rate.

Prior to Week 11, that is.

It may go down as the worst week in kicking history. A total of 12 -- count 'em: 12 extra points -- were missed on Sunday. Here's the carnage:

That total set an NFL record for most missed PATs on a single day of the season. The previous record of 10 went unopposed for 46 years, though it was matched six other times.

Don’t be too sure that this record will stand as long. As the cold winds of winter begin to blow, you could expect to see more weeks like this.

Then again, worse kicking leads to more two-point conversions. Wouldn’t you rather see more plays like this than a dude chip a ball through the uprights?

So life probably won’t be getting easier for the kicking fraternity any time soon.

But as JFK so nearly said, Don’t pray for easy field goals. Pray to have stronger legs.