Reaction to the NFL's decision to move the extra point back to the 15-yard line continues to come in across many media outlets. The MMQB’s Peter King said there is now "far too much emphasis on just three people" with the longer PAT. King: "When you're thinking about a field goal to win the game, at least that's a team thing. The offense had to move the ball down. ... You’re going to lose a game because of an extra point where it only involves the center, the holder and the kicker? I think it's terrible" (“PFT,” NBCSN, 5/20). In San Diego, Tom Krasovic wrote, "I'm not thrilled with the rule change. The biggest reason is player safety figures to suffer. The longer the kick, the harder teams try to block it. ... As kick distances go up, so does the amount of intense contact and all-out sprinting, zig-zagging and catapulting." Krasovic: "Injuries are a big problem in the NFL. Why subject players to more risk?" (UTSANDIEGO.com, 5/20).
WHAT'S THE POINT? ESPN’s Michael Wilbon said it is "not all that big a deal,” as the success rate of kicks made from the new distance is only two percentage points lower. Wilbon: "I don’t think they accomplished much of anything." ESPN’s Tony Kornheiser said, "It accomplishes nothing. What you have to do is put that kick from a place where you make it about 70-75 percent of the time so that it can be missed so that you really have to think about going for two" (“PTI,” ESPN, 5/20). In Tacoma, Dave Boling wrote, "I guess I missed the part where NFL games had gotten so boring that fans weren’t watching. ... So I have to squint pretty hard to see the necessity for the somewhat drastic change in the league’s extra-point protocol" (Tacoma NEWS TRIBUNE, 5/21). In Seattle, Bob Condotta wrote, "It strikes me that this is one time the NFL was responding to a problem that only it seemed to really feel. I don’t ever remember getting an e-mail from a fan complaining that the PAT was boring, or needed juicing up. I didn’t get the sense fans were unhappy that a touchdown was a touchdown was a touchdown." However, the NFL "seems pretty determined to make the PAT a big deal" (SEATTLE TIMES, 5/21).
