Can there be too much of a good thing? With the NFL loosening the rules on breaking in balls, kickers are hitting more long field goals than ever before.
The footballs used for kicking (the K balls) were previously supplied to teams 90 minutes before kickoff – brand-new balls, with limited time to break them in. Now each team is given 60 kicking balls at training camp, with ample opportunity to make them more foot friendly – scrubbing off some of the finish and whatnot. Each ball is limited to appearing in three games.
There are limitations to how much alteration is allowed. Back in the ‘80s and ‘90s, Nick Lowery (who kicked for Kansas City and the Jets) would run them through a laundry dryer. Balls today still must by inspected and approved by league officials before the game.
But whatever kickers are doing to them, it’s helping with performance (along with kickers themselves simply getting better).
Whatever the mix of reasons, the range has been pushed well back. As Week 8 gets underway, there have already been a record 6 field goals from 60-plus. (Perhaps more remarkably, kickers have missed only twice on kicks of 60 to 65 yards – they’re at 75 percent on those kicks).
And a 55-yard field goal nowadays is now considered routine.
In 2022, there were 43 field goals made from 55-59 yards – 18 more than ever before. It got pushed up to 51 such field goals last year. As we near the halfway point of this season, we’re already at 29 (and with 69 percent accuracy).
When Tom Dempsey made his 63-yard field goal in 1970, it was almost unthinkable. Other kickers made only 2 of 35 attempts from 55-plus yards in the first five seasons of the Super Bowl. Now, there are so many good kickers that I’ll be surprised if somebody doesn’t match Justin Tucker’s record 66-yarder before the end of November.
| FIELD GOALS OF 50-59 YARDS | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Year | FG | FGA | Pct |
| 1966 | 0 | 4 | .000 |
| 1967 | 0 | 3 | .000 |
| 1968 | 0 | 4 | .000 |
| 1969 | 1 | 13 | .077 |
| 1970 | 1 | 9 | .111 |
| 1971 | 0 | 4 | .000 |
| 1972 | 1 | 6 | .167 |
| 1973 | 0 | 9 | .000 |
| 1974 | 0 | 2 | .000 |
| 1975 | 1 | 4 | .250 |
| 1976 | 0 | 4 | .000 |
| 1977 | 0 | 2 | .000 |
| 1979 | 2 | 4 | .500 |
| 1980 | 4 | 11 | .364 |
| 1981 | 1 | 6 | .167 |
| 1982 | 1 | 8 | .125 |
| 1983 | 5 | 9 | .556 |
| 1984 | 1 | 10 | .100 |
| 1985 | 3 | 12 | .250 |
| 1986 | 3 | 12 | .250 |
| 1987 | 0 | 3 | .000 |
| 1988 | 0 | 9 | .000 |
| 1989 | 2 | 5 | .400 |
| 1990 | 4 | 12 | .333 |
| 1991 | 1 | 10 | .100 |
| 1992 | 0 | 7 | .000 |
| 1993 | 7 | 17 | .412 |
| 1994 | 0 | 7 | .000 |
| 1995 | 7 | 11 | .636 |
| 1996 | 1 | 5 | .200 |
| 1997 | 4 | 9 | .444 |
| 1998 | 4 | 9 | .444 |
| 1999 | 1 | 8 | .125 |
| 2000 | 1 | 5 | .200 |
| 2001 | 3 | 8 | .375 |
| 2002 | 2 | 13 | .154 |
| 2003 | 4 | 10 | .400 |
| 2004 | 2 | 9 | .222 |
| 2005 | 5 | 11 | .455 |
| 2006 | 1 | 4 | .250 |
| 2007 | 4 | 14 | .286 |
| 2008 | 8 | 12 | .667 |
| 2009 | 5 | 20 | .250 |
| 2010 | 10 | 16 | .625 |
| 2011 | 12 | 21 | .571 |
| 2012 | 13 | 29 | .448 |
| 2013 | 10 | 20 | .500 |
| 2014 | 14 | 26 | .538 |
| 2015 | 13 | 19 | .684 |
| 2016 | 13 | 32 | .406 |
| 2017 | 22 | 35 | .629 |
| 2018 | 24 | 38 | .632 |
| 2019 | 14 | 32 | .438 |
| 2020 | 25 | 43 | .581 |
| 2021 | 23 | 43 | .535 |
| 2022 | 43 | 66 | .652 |
| 2023 | 39 | 67 | .582 |
| 2024 | 51 | 78 | .654 |
| 2025 | 29 | 42 | .690 |
—Ian Allan