In September, Brandon Aubrey of the Dallas Cowboys made a 65-yard field goal, the second-most in NFL history. It wasn’t luck: This season, Aubrey had 10 field goals of 50 yards or more. Twenty years ago, the Cowboys hadn’t made a single one all season (they only attempted two).
Published at 6:00 a.m.
Ben Blatt
The New York Times
This demonstrates that the long field goal, once rare, is now the norm.
After 10 weeks of play, 153 field goals of at least 50 yards had been attempted, compared to just 58 for the same period in 2004. The frequency of shorter field goals is about the same.
How is this explained? The kickers are better than before.
They are more regular. The completion percentage for kicks under 40 yards increased from 89% in 2004 to 97% this year.
Kickers have improved in accuracy across the board, but the biggest improvement has been on long field goals, at distances that a generation ago were only attempted out of desperation.
Kicks of 50 yards or more are now successful about 75% of the time, almost twice as many as in 1984.
But why are kickers better?
Michael Husted, who played in the NFL for nine seasons and now runs a kicking academy, says he developed his technique through trial and error. It wasn’t until 1993, when he entered the league, that he had access to game videos and tried to assimilate the technique of great kickers like Morten Andersen, who played for 25 seasons and made seven Pro Bowls (Andersen’s long punt success rate was 48%, which would be below league average today).
PHOTO JOHN BAZEMORE, ARCHIVES ASSOCIATED PRESS
Morten Andersen – here in an Atlanta Falcons uniform in 2007 – was a trailblazer. In his day, his long placement success rate of 48% was exceptional. Today he would be below league average.
Husted says that by the time he left the league, the way he kicked was “completely different.” He used his entire body to generate power, not just his legs. However, this increased power greatly contributes to precision.
Previously, attempts from distance often fell in front of the posts. Since the start of the year, only three 50-yard attempts have been too short.
You learn by watching others kick. The kids who come to my kicking camp learned everything on YouTube.
Micheal Husted, retired NFL kicker
The pool of young kickers is larger, which Husted attributes to a certain specialization: previously, young people played several sports and only trained as kickers during the football season. Today, they train all year round.
All of this has led teams to change their approach to long field goals: can they be attempted, and at what point in the match?
Previously, a 55-yard field goal was only attempted near halftime or at the end of the game. Of the 12 attempts in the 2004 season, 10 came within two minutes of halftime or the end, when the risk of failure was minimal. This season, after 10 weeks, there had already been 52 attempts of 55 yards or more, including 37 before the two-minute warning.
The current record of 66 yards is held by Justin Tucker (as of 2021), and it is unclear how much kickers can continue to improve.
Already, their improvement has some people saying that the league should narrow the gap between the posts to make placement more difficult.
In the meantime, the number of long attempts continues to increase. The record for attempts of 50 yards or more was broken in 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023 (even taking into account the addition of a 17e match in 2021). If the pace continues this year, the record should be broken two weeks before the end of the season.
This article was published in the New York Times.
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