SmashMouth

I've never heard anyone complain about extra points. They're just there during NFL games, not hurting or helping the sport, just the bread before the meal at a steakhouse. Nobody talks about how the bread needs to be improved.

Somehow, extra points became a hot topic. For some reason this was the part of the game that had to dramatically change, either eliminating them or moving them back to make them tougher – because if there's something that will make the NFL better, it's putting the outcomes of more games on a kicker's shoulders.

It seems that the first step toward making the extra point a substantial part of the game is coming this preseason. For the first two preseason games, teams will line up to snap extra points from the 20-yard line, making them about 38 yards instead of 20, which has been the standard. A proposal for a new permanent rule to snap extra points from the 25-yard line was tabled. By experimenting in the preseason, the NFL can see how it goes and determine if that's something it wants to implement.

For anyone who likes this idea, remember that when your team drives down 80 yards for what looks like a game-tying touchdown in the final seconds of a hard-fought game, only to see the kicker miss a 37-yard kick. See if that scenario adds to the value of the game.

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WhoDat!656

Benson or Payton should have reminded the Competition Committee of this:

SaintsBro

Honestly that game last year between the Eagles and the Lions -- where the snow was so bad that nobody could kick any extra points -- was one of the most exciting games I've seen in years. Because nobody could kick, they had to go for two, EVERY TIME. Every extra point was excruciating to watch, including the ones they tried to kick, and failed. You never knew whether they were going to make it or not. It kept me on the edge of my seat! The touchdowns were the easy part -- the two point conversion was where the whole game hung in the balance.

But I wouldn't want EVERY game to be like that -- that would just be ridiculous.

Utah_Saint

I won't mind a change to extra points. As it is right now, they just blend in with the commercials on either side of them.

SmashMouth

I disagree. ... All games ought to require 2 point conversions. More fun!