Most of what the league seems to feel it addresses is the fact that there is, for all intents and purposes, zero drama in the PAT kick as it stands today. Last season, a grand total of eight PATs were missed all year (out of 1230 attempts). Because kickers, as a group, have gotten so good, even the weakest kickers in the league were still dead close to perfect on PATs.
The sentiment seemed to be that a play which was as close to preordained in its outcome as the PAT had become needed to be changed, to introduce at least some element of uncertainty (and, thus, interest) in the outcome.
You seem to be suggesting that the harder PAT makes this less likely, but it’s obviously the opposite. If PATs were made into 50 yard field goals and the percentage went down to 72 or whatever, then obviously 2 point conversions would become much more appealing. A reliable PAT discourages going for two, a less reliable PAT makes the 2 point conversion more favorable.
The point, Ellis, is that if your idea is implemented, there’s less strategy. You are removing a decision. There’s nothing to decide; you get seven points and try for an eighth.
The current system at least has a decision involved (no matter where the PAT is attempted from.)
Here is the point that everyone is missing. If I go for 1 and the kicker misses it, that’s his fault. If the coach decides to go for 2 and doesn’t make it, that’s his fault. Coaches very rarely take risks like that because his job is on the line.
It’s been demonstrated time and again that coaches are far too conservative to do things like go for two or go for it and 4th-and-X. And you hit the reason bang on; a coach does not coach to win, he coaches to keep his job.
I misspoke before; moving the PAT to the 15 does (very slightly) increase the appeal of the 2-point conversion. But if the numbers being used here are correct it’s a very small difference. Moving the PAT to the 25 or the 30 would make things interesting.
True, but you still can’t get a score of 1-1, 2-1, 3-1, 4-1, 5-1, etc. In college you can potentially get 6-1 (or any score greater than 6-1)(defensive safety on a conversion attempt) but it’s massively unlikely and has never happened.
2-0 in the NFL, although the points do not count for any end-of-season tiebreakers or “strength of schedule” purposes. NCAA is 1-0, and I think high school is 1-0 as well. Note that, in all cases, if the forfeiting team was behind when they forfeited, whatever the score was at the time is the final score.
You can’t get a score of 7-1, since scoring the 1-point safety means the team that scored the touchdown didn’t convert its PAT. 8-1 is possible, with 6-1 followed by a safety.
Also, in high school, they changed the rules a few years ago to make it clear that the team that didn’t score the touchdown can’t score any points on the try.