Jay Z wrote:There were some lower scoring games. Two I watched were Steelers-Jaguars and Cowboys-Falcons. Those were FG fests.
Other than last night, only 4 other teams scored over 30. Buccaneers and Giants both did in their game. Colts scored 38 against Titans, Saints 48 against Eagles. Eagles were the only one under 10.
I think it's gotten a lot harder to hold any team to single digits. Usually that was only the poorer teams anyway, of course, but even in these more defensive oriented games the kickers either make all of the FG or there is some late flurry of TDs, and the score winds up 22-21 anyway. Some of that is due to better field conditions, better kickers, better performance at "skill positions."
I for one have had an issue with the field goal kicking in the NFL for some time. For one thing, they need to get rid of the kicking ball and use the same ball they use for all other non-kicking plays. While I have come to like the 33-yard extra point, I think they need to make field goals more difficult as it seems every week somebody is nailing a 57-yard field goal. The three options, as I see it, are to (1) move the hash marks a couple feet each way toward each sideline; (2) make the goalposts narrower; (3) tack ten yards onto the spot of the kick when the opposing team takes over after a miss.
The NFL has hash marks at 18 feet 6 inches, while college football has theirs at 40 feet. This makes kicking a field goal in college football much trickier because of the angles. Perhaps the NFL needs to move the hash marks to 25 or 30 feet, which would change the game significantly. Would it help or hurt the offense? I don't know.
Shortening the distances between the goal posts would of course lower kicking percentages, but putting a ten-yard bonus added to the point where the field goal is kicked from would seriously reduce the number of field goal attempts.
I also think they need to rein in the offense somewhat, and there hasn't been a single rule change that has benefited the defense over the offense since the advent of the bump and run in 1978. Maybe go with a different ball that makes it harder to throw, and do away with Stickum gloves the receivers use.
"Every time you lose, you die a little bit. You die inside. Not all your organs, maybe just your liver." - George Allen