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INDIANAPOLIS – After months of speculation, a conclusion on a potential change in PATs should be decided on this week.
The NFL will hold their spring meetings in San Francisco from Monday-Wednesday.
From a rules perspective standpoint at the meetings, the debate on what to do with the extra point is expected to reach a formality Tuesday afternoon.
The three proposals that will be voted on are as followed:
- Snapping the ball from the 15-yard line for a one-point kick or snapping from the 2-yard line for a two-point conversion.
- Same as the one above, however the two-point attempt would come from the 1-yard line. Also, the defense would have the chance to score on turnovers on two-point conversion attempts.
- Same as the one above, however the two-point attempt would come from the 2-yard line.
For one of the proposals to pass, 24 of 32 owners will have to vote in favor.
In this week’s Monday Morning Quarterback, Peter King offered some more information on the possible changes coming to the extra point.
Aside from moving the goalposts to the back of the endzone in 1974 and adopting the two-point conversion in 1994, the NFL hasn't had a significant change in the way it keeps score in its 95 seasons.
I believe what the owners are likely to pass isn't a perfect plan, but it's a good starting point—assuming, of course, that 24 of 32 owners approve one of the three plans and the line of scrimmage for the PAT is moved back.
I believe that, because to do nothing is wrong. With a success rate of 99.5 percent for PATs over the past four years, and with the rising number of touchbacks with the kickoff line pushed up five yards recently, the dead spots in games are, well, really dead.
But will the NFL really be fixing the PAT if part of the new solution is pushing the kicking point to the 15-yard-line, meaning the PAT attempt on a kick would be from the 32 or 33? It does not seem so. Longtime Pittsburgh TV anchor and commentator John Steigerwald forwarded these numbers to me, and they're interesting.
2014 NFL Field Goal Accuracy, 30- to 39-yard attempts Field goals made:272. Field goal attempted:302. Field goal percentage from 30 to 39 yards:90.1 percent.
NFL kickers make more than 99 percent of extra points—on average, over the past three seasons—and so the percentage is going to go down if the scrimmage line is moved back 13 yards. But as Steigerwald points out, only slightly.
