I notice that teams are connecting more often on long field goals. In my first 10 years playing fantasy football, there was one successful field goal from 60-plus yards. In the last two years, there have been 9 such kicks.
It used to be that a 50-yard field goal carried a certain degree of difficulty. (In my original league, we awarded double points for kicks from that range.) Now a kick from 50 yards is pretty routine. It’s probably at about 55 yards where you get into what could be called a noteworthy distance.
And the 60-yard kicks are now happening regularly. Prior to 2021, there had never been more than 2 such field goals in a season. But there were a record 4 in the 2021 season, and there were a record 5 in the just-completed 2022 season.
Justin Tucker in 2021 kicked a field goal from 66 – an all-time record. Only two kickers in league history have converted more than 2 kicks from 60-plus, and both were active in the just-completed season (Brett Maher and Greg Zuerlein).
FIELD GOALS OF 60-PLUS YARDS | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Year | Player | Opp | Score | Yds |
2021 | • Justin Tucker, Bal. | at Det. | W 19-17 | 66 |
2013 | Matt Prater, Den. | Ten. | W 51-28 | 64 |
1970 | Tom Dempsey, N.O. | Det. | W 19-17 | 63 |
1998 | Jason Elam, Den. | Jac. | W 37-24 | 63 |
2011 | Sebastian Janikowski, Oak. | at Den. | W 23-20 | 63 |
2012 | David Akers, S.F. | at G.B. | W 30-22 | 63 |
2018 | Graham Gano, Car. | NYG | W 33-31 | 63 |
2019 | Brett Maher, Dall. | Phi. | W 37-10 | 63 |
2006 | Matt Bryant, T.B. | Phi. | W 23-21 | 62 |
2017 | Stephen Gostkowski, N.E. | at Oak. | W 33-8 | 62 |
2018 | Brett Maher, Dall. | Phi. | W 29-23 | 62 |
2019 | Brett Maher, Dall. | at NYJ | L 22-24 | 62 |
2021 | • Matt Prater, Ari. | Min. | W 34-33 | 62 |
2022 | Harrison Butker, K.C. | Buff. | L 20-24 | 62 |
2009 | Sebastian Janikowski, Oak. | at Cle. | L 9-23 | 61 |
2012 | Jay Feely, Ari. | Buff. | L 16-19 | 61 |
2013 | Justin Tucker, Bal. | at Det. | W 18-16 | 61 |
2015 | Greg Zuerlein, St.L. | at Min. | L 18-21 | 61 |
2017 | Jake Elliott, Phi. | NYG | W 27-24 | 61 |
2020 | Jason Myers, Sea. | at LAR | L 16-23 | 61 |
2021 | • Brandon McManus, Den. | at LAC | L 13-34 | 61 |
2021 | • Ka'imi Fairbairn, Hou. | Sea. | L 13-33 | 61 |
2022 | Greg Joseph, Min. | NYG | W 27-24 | 61 |
1984 | Steve Cox, Cle. | at Cin. | L 9-12 | 60 |
1991 | Morten Andersen, N.O. | Chi. | L 17-20 | 60 |
2006 | Rob Bironas, Ten. | Ind. | W 20-17 | 60 |
2010 | Dan Carpenter, Mia. | Cle. | L 10-13 | 60 |
2012 | Greg Zuerlein, St.L. | Sea. | W 19-13 | 60 |
2016 | Chandler Catanzaro, Ari. | at Buff. | L 18-33 | 60 |
2022 | Wil Lutz, N.O. | Min. | L 25-28 | 60 |
2022 | Brett Maher, Dall. | at Min. | W 40-3 | 60 |
2022 | Greg Zuerlein, NYJ | at Min. | L 22-27 | 60 |
Statistics compiled using search tools at Pro-Football-Reference.com
—Ian Allan