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GUEST EXPERT ARTICLE
It is being called the most boring play in football.
The Point After Touchdown (PAT) has become so automatic in the NFL that fans often use the time to do a refrigerator run, or change channels to catch the score in other NFL games.
In an effort to eliminate the boredom wrought by the extra point, which was hit successfully on over 99% of attempts in the 2013 season, the NFL has experimented with changes in the first two weeks of the NFL preseason. Instead of setting up at the 2-yard line, teams lined up at the 15-yard line, extending the length of point after touchdown attempts to the equivalent of a 33-yard field goal attempt.
The results have been surprising. After just five extra point attempts were missed during the entire 2013 NFL season, a total of eight kicks were missed during the first two weeks of the preseason. The 94.3 percent success rate (133 of 141) was below the regular-season rate (99.6 percent) from 2013 when the ball was snapped from the 2-yard line instead of the 15.
The tinkering with the extra point has spurred passionate commentary, both in favor and opposed.
It was public statements made by New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick that initially spurred the conversation.
According to Belichick, the extra point in today's game is not reflective of how or why the play was initially made part of the game decades ago.
According to Belichick, the concept of the extra point was a play "you actually had to execute and it was executed by players who were not specialists, they were position players. It was a lot harder for them to do."
But others disagree. Pittsburgh Steelers kicker Shaun Suisham has expressed concern about the unintended consequences of such a fundamental change to the NFL game.
"I think there's potential that it may change the dynamic of the play in the sense that if you line up for an extra point from 15 yards out, there's not much threat of a fake," said Suisham, in a recent USA Today report.
"The defense will be able to come after the ball more aggressively. Hopefully that doesn't lead to increased injuries. That would be my only concern."
Any change to the point after touchdown could also impact how point spreads in NFL games are handicapped for sports betting purposes (on sites such as bettingsports.com). Any change that diminishes the automatic nature of the extra point or encourages teams to attempt more two-point converts would create uncertainty, at least in the short term, that will make the casual sports bettor's weekly task of picking NFL winners even more challenging than it is today.
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