What’s Going On With Kickers In The NFL?
Things got so bad on Monday night for newly signed Tennessee Titans kicker Stephen Gostkowski that the prospect of removing his pants before the final kick of t…
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What’s Going On With Kickers In The NFL?
- Thread starter Lance Uppercut
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The field goal percentage for all teams in Week 1 was just 71.6 percent, the lowest leaguewide field goal success rate in at least 20 years,2 according to data from ESPN’s Stats & Information Group. It was also the 9th-worst kicking performance across all weeks since 2001. Of the eight weeks with a lower leaguewide field goal percentage, just one occurred in the past 15 years.3
What’s happening here? The average length of the 67 attempts in Week 1 wasn’t significantly different from past years, at 38.2 yards per attempt, so the poor results can’t be explained by longer attempts.4 Wind also can’t explain the difference: The windiest Week 15 of the past 20 years was in 2001, according to ESPN Stats & Info, and the league converted 80 percent of its 55 attempts that year, with an average attempt distance of 37 yards.
What’s happening here? The average length of the 67 attempts in Week 1 wasn’t significantly different from past years, at 38.2 yards per attempt, so the poor results can’t be explained by longer attempts.4 Wind also can’t explain the difference: The windiest Week 15 of the past 20 years was in 2001, according to ESPN Stats & Info, and the league converted 80 percent of its 55 attempts that year, with an average attempt distance of 37 yards.