The NFL just made extra points a wee bit harder
The NFL's owners on Tuesday voted 30-2 in favor of moving the snap for extra points from the two- to the 15-yard line, a change intended to incentivize two-point conversions and make point afters more exciting. The spot for two-point conversions will remain the two-yard line under the new format.
So how much will the change impact in-game strategy? Probably not that much.
Increased specialization across the game has resulted in dead eye kickers. Teams converted 99.3 percent of extra point attempts last season. On kicks between 30 and 34 yards — roughly the distance a ball must travel for a kick spotted at the 15-yard line — teams converted almost 96 percent of the time, according to the Wall Street Journal.
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The rule change will winnow the gap in expected value between extra points and two-point conversions. But in a risk-averse league, that shouldn't be enough to dramatically change how teams approach the point after.
