The 33-yard extra point was one of the big stories of the 2015-16 season, as players, fans, coaches, and announcers enjoyed griping about kickers missing chip shots at a higher rate than before despite concern that they are too good. In particular, Buffalo Bills fans directed their ire towards kicker Dan Carpenter, who missed six extra…
Recent playoff history for the Minnesota Vikings and New England Patriots have shown the importance of kickers in an increasingly-competitive league. The advent of the 33-yard extra point has altered the landscape by providing another data point for kickers to differentiate themselves from one-another, creating a greater difference in value between kickers at the top…
There was much discussion prior to, and early in, the 2015 NFL season regarding the effect of longer extra points. With the distance going from 19 to 33 yards, there were a number of unsubstantiated opinions floating around. Some analysts suggested that better-than-expected accuracy in the early season would fade due to bad weather. Others…
Chuck Zodda examined the impact that longer extra points had on NFL kickers after Week 4, with the data showing an improvement over his pre-season prediction. Here is the data on extra points at the halfway mark, after Week 8 of the NFL season. By now, all football fans are aware that the NFL pushed…
Chuck Zodda is our special teams expert. Mostly because we don’t let him do anything else. But whether kickoff returns, fake punts, or fire calls, Chuck has you covered in the third phase of the game. Today we examine the critical role that punters have in determining field position, in Bryan Anger vs. Pat McAfee. Locked…