One of the rule changes the CFL introduced for this season was making the
extra point after touchdowns longer and therefore more difficult. This wasn't a
rushed change, the conversation about how the routine chip shot kicks were
rarely missed has been going a long time. There was an article about it in the
Canadian Football News in 1953.
The effects of the new rule were felt immediately. In the
opening game of the season the first of the new kick attempts fell to the
Montreal Alouettes' rookie Boris Bede. He pulled it to the left.
South of the border the NFL, of course, has decided to
lengthen the PAT kick too. So, with the first quarter of the Canadian season
now in the books and the NFL kick off getting closer, we thought we'd have a
look to see how the change has gone and what the NFL has in store for it.
There are two intended effects of the new longer kicks.
1: to increase the number of extra point kicks which are
missed and
2: to encourage teams to try more two point attempts
The new rules in the two codes are pretty much the same. In
both the line of scrimmage for kicks will be 25 yards from the posts. The NFL
two pointer is still run from the 2 yard line, in Canada it's been moved
forward from the 5 to the 3. (Since Canadian football is played on a wider
pitch with a deeper end zone I think their two pointer from the 3 yard line is
probably slightly easier.)
Science, or at least maths, was applied when the Canadians
set their rules. Judged from field goal records the new 32 yard extra point
kick is expected to meet with a success rate of about 83% compared to the old
rate of 99.5%. The 3 yard line was chosen for two point conversions as the
expected success rate is 50% compared to 30% from the previous mark on the 5 yard
line. Last season the two point conversion was attempted on 6% of
opportunities. The CFL hopes that will be doubled this year.
I've added up what's happened in the twenty games played so
far.
|
Kicks attempted
|
72
|
|
Kicks Missed
|
13
|
|
Success Rate
|
81.90%
|
|
Two Points attempted
|
25
|
|
Two points failed
|
5
|
|
Success Rate
|
80.00%
|
Teams have gone for two point
conversions 25.8% of the time.
So the conversion rate for kicks is pretty close to the
CFL's expectations. There are only two starting kickers who haven't missed one
and there's been at least one miss in over half the games played.
Interestingly, some kickers have been more successful with field goals than
extra points from similar distances. It may be that the change is putting extra
mental pressure on them, something for NFL teams to consider perhaps.
What's even more interesting is what's happening with the
two point conversions.
The success rate has been well above the expected 50%. It's
early days of course, the sample size is only 29 attempts
(including overtime drives), but if that rate persists then simple arithmetic
says the two point attempt should become the norm. The Calgary Stampeders have
certainly caught on to it. In their latest game they went straight to two
pointers, and since they're 6 for 6 on them why wouldn't they?
So have the new rules affected games? Well, during week 4
Calgary Stampeders beat Winnipeg Blue Bombers 26-25 in a game for top place in
the West Division game. Winnipeg scored
the last touchdown of the game but Lirim Hajrullah missed the extra point.
Calgary had also missed an extra point earlier in the game but it was the
Winnipeg one which was decisive, it would have tied the scores.
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