50+ yard field goal attempts (per game, per team) and success rate are at an all-time high this season.

For the first time ever, the success rate on 50+ yard kicks is slightly higher than from 40–49 yards.

Data source: https://www.pro-football-reference.com/years/NFL/kicking.htm
Data viz: https://www.formulabot.com/

Posted by No-Comfortable-9418

13 comments

  1. This graph is a great way to explain to youngin’s why Scott Norwood’s “wide right” wasn’t the choke that I sometimes hear nowadays. At 47 yards in 1991, that was a bit better than a coinflip field goal. Of course, the Bills seem to have a tails on both sides of the coin they flip.

  2. wild to see 50+ fgs basically as common as 40–49 now. dudes used to hit like 30% in the 80s, now it’s 60+%. kickers just built different + better turf, and coaches actually let them try. it’s not a hail mary anymore, it’s just normal

  4. Also interesting is the trend that there are fewer 0-29 yard field goals. Teams are getting more aggressively in the red zone.

  5. Less 0-30 yard field goals, and more 50+ yard field goals.
    Honestly this translates into more red zone activity on 4th, and field goals which are a legit celebration when made. Thats just better TV anyway you slice it.

  7. I really want to see a game of field goal HORSE added to the Pro Bowl Skills game this year. “Doink off the right upright from 55 yards.” “75 yards, kicking from the left out of bound lines.”

    Maybe a kick for accuracy and distance competition to start with, then four semifinalists who play a HORSE bracket.

  8. Some guy posted that his son went to a high school kicking camp. His son kicked a 58 yd FG and came in 15th in a competition. Will they have to narrow the FG bars in the future?

  9. Could be the actuary in me, but I don’t like how the top graph has the steps and progress doesn’t show up until the decimal rounds up. I’d prefer to use the total FG values from lower on the linked source and divide by games to get the actual unrounded value.

    Additionally, I wonder how much of this is that it’s early in the season and we haven’t had much, if any, wet or windy weather that would heavily impact kicking.

  10. I wonder what the efficiency of XPs are too. Would imagine it is something like 99.999% prior to change two years ago. To something like 95% as it seems at least one XP missed a week somehow.

  11. I wish they broke out the 60+ instead of just 50+. I know they were really rare but it does feel like there are a decent number from 60+ nowadays.

  12. Someone smarter than me would need to look into this, but I wonder if there’s any data showing a difference in playcalling that could also indicate the “edge of field goal range” has changed.

    For example, 3rd & 10 at your opponents 40. If no yards are gained, you’ll be set up for a 57 yard field goal. Years ago, coaches might be thinking about gaining just 4-5 yards to get into reasonable field goal distance. These days, they are already at a reasonable field goal distance in many cases. So are coaches being more aggressive trying to convert a first down?

  13. Cool and interesting data. Not sure why you rounded the data on the top graph though to cause the lines to overlap. Otherwise looks good

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