# Get rid of the one point PAT conversion in the NFL? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [January 22, 2014, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-rid-of-the-one-point-pat-conversion-in-the-nfl/679429 "2014-01-22T03:39:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2014, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-rid-of-the-one-point-pat-conversion-in-the-nfl/679429/21 "2014-01-22T18:52:37Z")
I agree this is a solution to a non-existent problem. But, just for giggles: dropkick from where you cross, from the 20. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2014, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-rid-of-the-one-point-pat-conversion-in-the-nfl/679429/22 "2014-01-22T18:53:41Z")
**Hamlet** is totally onto something with the hungry lion thing. > [@Taber](#): > > Also, why does the article pretend that this change will mean more teams will go for 2 with this change? it is still the exact same point math as before, so teams will still take 7 points most of the time. Goodell has apparently been framing it in those terms. Nobody has any idea why. ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2014, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-rid-of-the-one-point-pat-conversion-in-the-nfl/679429/23 "2014-01-22T19:00:47Z")
How about getting rid of the holder, and no drop-kick, either - the kicker has to one-time it thru the uprights directly from the snapper - no hands. Otherwise, I am in favor of just pushing things back 10-20 yards, if they really insist on changing something. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2014, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-rid-of-the-one-point-pat-conversion-in-the-nfl/679429/24 "2014-01-22T19:28:31Z")
> [@snowthx](#): > > Otherwise, I am in favor of just pushing things back 10-20 yards, if they really insist on changing something. If they really insist on changing something, have the kicking team line up at the 10. That could result in more trick plays like the holder attempting a two point throw instead. ---
**Author:** ![Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freddy_the_Pig)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2014, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-rid-of-the-one-point-pat-conversion-in-the-nfl/679429/25 "2014-01-22T19:38:43Z")
> [@Hamlet](#): > > Add me to the “ain’t broke” team. Of course it’s broke. It’s too easy. It lacks the necessary elements of uncertainty or difficulty to make it an appealing part of an athletic competition. Either make it harder or get rid of it. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2014, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-rid-of-the-one-point-pat-conversion-in-the-nfl/679429/26 "2014-01-22T19:39:19Z")
> [@Zyanthia](#): > > Leave the PAT, but there are only 3 people on the field. The hiker, the kicker (who will do a drop kick), and a kick blocker. For some reason, perhaps wishful thinking, my brain compressed the final two words into “kick boxer,” which made for a very entertaining visual–well, at least to me. Anyhow, I’m on the side of ain’t broke, don’t fix. ---
**Author:** ![GargoyleWB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gargoylewb/32/199_2.png) [@GargoyleWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GargoyleWB)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2014, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-rid-of-the-one-point-pat-conversion-in-the-nfl/679429/27 "2014-01-22T20:13:30Z")
Keep the PAT, but make it a lottery system for which of the offense has to perform the kick. Ooohhh, the offensive guard drew the short straw this time! It could add a new layer of tactical coaching for who’s in the line-up. Still a relatively easy kick when one has a bit of practice, but a hell of a lot more entertaining 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Agent\_Foxtrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc29f/32.png) [@Agent\_Foxtrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agent_Foxtrot)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2014, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-rid-of-the-one-point-pat-conversion-in-the-nfl/679429/28 "2014-01-22T20:42:43Z")
No. Leave it. ---
**Author:** ![Pixel\_Dent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bc8723/32.png) [@Pixel\_Dent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pixel_Dent)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2014, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-rid-of-the-one-point-pat-conversion-in-the-nfl/679429/29 "2014-01-22T20:54:25Z")
Well, I’ll be the odd man out and say I like it. Then again I also think you shouldn’t be allowed to punt once you cross the 50 yard line and that the NFL should adopt the college overtime rules. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2014, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-rid-of-the-one-point-pat-conversion-in-the-nfl/679429/30 "2014-01-22T20:55:00Z")
Get rid of it entirely. It’s a vestige. Make every conversion attempt a two-pointer, not a kick. What is being converted by a conversion, anyway? If it’s just converting the opportunity for a point into a point, that’s a pretty clumsy word to pick. ---
**Author:** ![Sterling\_Archer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Sterling\_Archer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sterling_Archer)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2014, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-rid-of-the-one-point-pat-conversion-in-the-nfl/679429/31 "2014-01-22T20:58:05Z")
I love the “scoring player must kick the PAT” idea. Could become an interesting skillset – short yardage fullbacks who also know how to kick. Ochocinco would be a fan, too. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2014, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-rid-of-the-one-point-pat-conversion-in-the-nfl/679429/32 "2014-01-22T21:00:53Z")
I like it. It’s part of the game. It gives the players a chance to catch their breath before the next down starts. Leave it and move it back 10 yards. Make it harder to complete. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2014, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-rid-of-the-one-point-pat-conversion-in-the-nfl/679429/33 "2014-01-22T21:28:14Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > Leave it and move it back 10 yards. Make it harder to complete. Even spotting the ball at the 12 yard line wouldn’t make it much less than an automatic play. NFL kickers have simply become tremendously more accurate in the past few decades (and that’s even with the introduction of the harder “K-ball” about 15 years ago). In the NFL last season, 99.6% of extra points were successful. Spotting the ball at the 12 would make for (effectively) a 29-yard kick for the PAT. Of all field goal attempts from 20-29 yards out last season, 97.5% were successful – the 29-yarder is at the long end of that range, and is, in theory, going to have a lower success rate than the 20-yarder at the near end of the range, but even so, I’d guess that the conversion rate on 29-yard PATs, versus 19-yard PATs, wouldn’t drop by more than three or four percent. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2014, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-rid-of-the-one-point-pat-conversion-in-the-nfl/679429/34 "2014-01-22T21:40:35Z")
Attach powerful electric fans to the uprights so kickers would have to contend with a varaible crosswind. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2014, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-rid-of-the-one-point-pat-conversion-in-the-nfl/679429/35 "2014-01-22T21:41:37Z")
Keep the PAT, but instead of the placekicker, have it kicked by the player with the highest number of verified concussions. ---
**Author:** ![Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/intergalactic_gladiator/32/112_2.png) [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intergalactic_Gladiator)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2014, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-rid-of-the-one-point-pat-conversion-in-the-nfl/679429/36 "2014-01-22T21:47:15Z")
The PAT should stay. Although it would make an interesting twist to make the rule that the kick has to [bounce off an opposing player’s head](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=12280326&postcount=1) to be good. ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2014, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-rid-of-the-one-point-pat-conversion-in-the-nfl/679429/37 "2014-01-22T21:50:28Z")
Maybe combining the point after with the next play - the kick-off. Since they changed the spotting of the kick-off (to the 40?)- a lot of kicks are going to the back of the endzone already, so why not reward the team of one goes thru the uprights? If it is missed, then the opposing team can go ahead and catch it and down it in the endzone for a touchback, or run it out from there. We’d end up with a couple less commercial breaks as a byproduct. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2014, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-rid-of-the-one-point-pat-conversion-in-the-nfl/679429/38 "2014-01-22T21:53:30Z")
> [@snowthx](#): > > We’d end up with a couple less commercial breaks as a byproduct. Which means that’ll never happen. You’re more likely to see four hours of boner pill commercials than a game with fewer commercials. ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2014, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-rid-of-the-one-point-pat-conversion-in-the-nfl/679429/39 "2014-01-22T21:59:33Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > Which means that’ll never happen. You’re more likely to see four hours of boner pill commercials than a game with fewer commercials. Agree. And there we have the reason why the game is set-up the way it is - more stoppages in play, more opportunities for commercial breaks, more revenue. Altho I think there is something like 11 minutes of actual action in an NFL game for the 3-hour show, but that is another thread. ---
**Author:** ![randompattern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7993a0/32.png) [@randompattern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/randompattern)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2014, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-rid-of-the-one-point-pat-conversion-in-the-nfl/679429/40 "2014-01-22T22:01:25Z")
How about instead of narrowing the posts just put a crossbar on the top and the kicks have to be inside the square to count. I think that alone would take the “gimme” out of it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-rid-of-the-one-point-pat-conversion-in-the-nfl/679429.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-rid-of-the-one-point-pat-conversion-in-the-nfl/679429.md?page=3)