Should field goals be made harder?

Discussion in 'Tennessee Titans and NFL Talk' started by NewsGrabber, Feb 3, 2009.

Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.
Page 1 of 2
  1. NewsGrabber

    NewsGrabber Guest

    <em>Posted by ESPN.com's Paul Kuharsky</em> <p>Our <a href="/blogs/afceast/0-5-7/Kickers-are-people--too.html" target="_blank">AFC East maven, Tim Graham</a>, writes Tuesday about the American Football Kicking Hall of Fame.</p> <p>That had me thinking of conversations I had during the season with Houston kicker <a href="http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/players/profile?playerId=1981" target="_new">Kris Brown</a> and Titans coach Jeff Fisher about how field goal percentage has been on a steady incline. From 1999 to 2008, the percentage jumped from 77.7 to 84.5 with an increase every year but one.</p> <table border="0" align="right"> <tr> <td> <table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" width="175" bgcolor="#c0c0c0"> <tr> <td> <table border="0" cellspacing="1" width="100%"> <tr> <td colspan="5" bgcolor="#196120"><font face="Verdana" size="1" color="#ffffff"><strong>NFL Field Goal Percentages</strong> </font></td> </tr> <tr> <td align="center" bgcolor="#d6d6d6"><font face="Verdana" size="1"><strong>Year</strong></font></td> <td align="center" bgcolor="#d6d6d6"><font face="Verdana" size="1"><strong>FG%</strong></font></td> </tr> <tr> <td align="center" bgcolor="#ffffff"><font face="Verdana" size="1">2008</font></td> <td align="center" bgcolor="#ffffff"><font face="Verdana" size="1">84.5 </font></td> </tr> <tr> <td align="center" bgcolor="#f4f4f4"><font face="Verdana" size="1">2007</font></td> <td align="center" bgcolor="#f4f4f4"><font face="Verdana" size="1">82.5 </font></td> </tr> <tr> <td align="center" bgcolor="#ffffff"><font face="Verdana" size="1">2006</font></td> <td align="center" bgcolor="#ffffff"><font face="Verdana" size="1">81.4 </font></td> </tr> <tr> <td align="center" bgcolor="#f4f4f4"><font face="Verdana" size="1">2005</font></td> <td align="center" bgcolor="#f4f4f4"><font face="Verdana" size="1">81.0 </font></td> </tr> <tr> <td align="center" bgcolor="#ffffff"><font face="Verdana" size="1">2004</font></td> <td align="center" bgcolor="#ffffff"><font face="Verdana" size="1">80.8 </font></td> </tr> <tr> <td align="center" bgcolor="#f4f4f4"><font face="Verdana" size="1">2003</font></td> <td align="center" bgcolor="#f4f4f4"><font face="Verdana" size="1">79.2 </font></td> </tr> <tr> <td align="center" bgcolor="#ffffff"><font face="Verdana" size="1">2002</font></td> <td align="center" bgcolor="#ffffff"><font face="Verdana" size="1">77.5 </font></td> </tr> <tr> <td align="center" bgcolor="#f4f4f4"><font face="Verdana" size="1">2001</font></td> <td align="center" bgcolor="#f4f4f4"><font face="Verdana" size="1">76.3 </font></td> </tr> <tr> <td align="center" bgcolor="#ffffff"><font face="Verdana" size="1">2000</font></td> <td align="center" bgcolor="#ffffff"><font face="Verdana" size="1">79.7 </font></td> </tr> <tr> <td align="center" bgcolor="#f4f4f4"><font face="Verdana" size="1">1999</font></td> <td align="center" bgcolor="#f4f4f4"><font face="Verdana" size="1">77.7</font></td> </tr> </table> </td> </tr> </table> </td> </tr> </table> <p>Brown said he had not looked at any kicker percentage numbers until the Texans did their Pro Bowl voting this season.</p> <p>"You're starting to see percentages creep up, I think because the position is starting to be played by athletic guys, guys that grew up playing other positions and understand the game," he said. "Whereas before, a lot of guys never really played the game, they were probably on their soccer team and got recruited to come kick. I think guys are training year round, staying in better shape, kicking earlier in the offseason. I think it's the combination of a lot of things."</p> <p>Fisher said kickers are stronger than ever and have benefitted from offseason programs around the league. He also said there are a lot of factors in the steady improvement, but talked about one in particular -- a rule change in 2007 that prohibited defenses from lining a player up directly over the snapper.</p> <p>"I think you might also consider the fact that we protected the center a little bit, so we're not getting as much inside push and blocks and pressure and things like that," he said. "Because of that we've been able to specialize with snappers, so snaps have been usually much better."</p> <p>What if it got to the point where kickers were hitting nine of every 10 field goal attempts, I asked, would Fisher back any competition committee proposals that somehow make things harder? No, he said.</p> <p>"I would hope they wouldn't," Brown said. "If that's what they decide to do, that's what they decide to do. I would never say never."</p>

    More...
     
    #1 NewsGrabber, Feb 3, 2009
  4. TBC_titan

    TBC_titan Camp Fodder

    1,899
    167
    0
    If they did decide to make it harder, my vote would be to do something fairly subtle, like narrowing the width of the uprights by no more than 4 or 5 feet, and raise the horizontal bottom bar by a foot or two.
    However, concerning field goals, this is a bit OT but I think they should change their overtime rules. I do not like that sudden death crap. While it's not a guaranteed score, more often than not the team that wins the coin toss is the team that scores.
    Why not let one team have a possession and if they do score, the other team gets a chance to match it, either with a FG or TD; if that team fails, the first team wins.
    Chances of overtime being a shootout are very small, and it would provide parity to both teams.
     
    #2 TBC_titan, Feb 3, 2009
  7. GoTitans3801

    GoTitans3801 Forward Progress!

    7,454
    477
    0
    I do like the idea of FGs getting harder. It should be a risk to kick a FG, though less of a risk. However, I don't think it's going to change. That creates all kinds of issues with kicking records, and how to compare them with different rules.
     
    #3 GoTitans3801, Feb 3, 2009
  10. eTitan81

    eTitan81 Touchdown Titans

    1,285
    158
    0
    I don't think it should change maybe the defensive players should just get better at blocking.
     
    #4 eTitan81, Feb 3, 2009
  13. psychotictitan

    psychotictitan Its About That Time...

    1,143
    198
    0
    If things are starting to become to easy for the kickers,they should it least try to be a little more creative as far as the snap and the hold before they think about making the posts narrower.

    <a href="http://s169.photobucket.com/albums/u218/dounkin/?action=view&current=jokes_field_goal.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u218/dounkin/jokes_field_goal.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>
     
    #5 psychotictitan, Feb 3, 2009
    • High Five High Five x 2
  16. Alex1939

    Alex1939 Space Invaders Champion

    21,253
    8,195
    1,189
    Found this funny, what a surprise.

    Why would Fisher want to make Field Goals harder? It's the only plan he has to ever score points.
     
    #6 Alex1939, Feb 3, 2009
  19. Smash

    Smash 2017 Survivor Winner

    4,092
    1,221
    659
    Hahaha funny. We scored 40 TDs i the 2008 season and 29 FGs.
     
    #7 Smash, Feb 3, 2009
  22. Alex1939

    Alex1939 Space Invaders Champion

    21,253
    8,195
    1,189
    C'mon, you know it fits our style of offense. We are no juggernaut. Nor would I feel comfortable relying on the offense to do what the Steelers did in the final drive of the Superbowl.


    We are a Defense first, special teams second kind of a team.
     
    #8 Alex1939, Feb 3, 2009
  25. Broken Record

    Broken Record Biscuit Eater Staff

    4,776
    801
    449
    I vote that the rules should be changed to whatever they were in the 1970s. Why? Because everything was cooler in the 70s.

    [​IMG]
     
    #9 Broken Record, Feb 3, 2009
  28. PhiSlammaJamma

    PhiSlammaJamma Critical Possession

    8,305
    663
    479
    I like it how it is. There's not much more to say about it.
     
    #10 PhiSlammaJamma, Feb 3, 2009
Page 1 of 2
Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.
Style
GT Classic

  • Welcome to goTitans.com

    Established in 2000, goTitans.com is the place for Tennessee Titans fans to talk Titans. Our roots go back to the Tennessee Oilers Fan Page in 1997 and we currently have 4,000 diehard members with 1.5 million messages. To find out about advertising opportunities, contact TitanJeff.

  • The Tip Jar

    For those of you interested in helping the cause, we offer The Tip Jar. For $2 a month, you can become a subscriber and enjoy goTitans.com without ads.

    Hit the Tip Jar