Field Goal (American and Canadian Football) - Strategy

Strategy

Because a field goal is worth only three points, while a touchdown scores at least six (usually seven with the extra point, and potentially 8 with a two-point conversion), teams will generally attempt a field goal only in the following situations:

• It is fourth down (third down in Canadian rules), especially if the offense is more than a yard or two from a new first down, and within about 45 yards of the goal posts.
• In the first half, there is enough time remaining to execute only one more play.
• In the second half, there is enough time remaining to execute only one more play, and the team on offense needs three points to win or tie (four points in a few leagues given special circumstances).
• The game is in overtime, and a FG is the quickest, easiest, and least risky way to end the match.

Except in desperate situations, a team will generally attempt field goals only when keeping a drive alive is unlikely, and their kicker has a significant chance of success, as a missed field goal results in a turnover at the spot of the kick (in the NFL) or at the line of scrimmage (in the NCAA). In American high school rules and Canadian football, where a missed field goal is treated the same as a punt, most teams still opt not to attempt field goals from very long range, since field goal formations are not conducive to covering punts. Even under ideal conditions, the best professional kickers historically had difficulty making kicks longer than 50 yards consistently (the NFL record is 63 yards and the CFL record, 62 yards). If a team chooses not to attempt a field goal on their last down, they can punt to the other team. A punt cannot score any points in American football unless the receiving team touches the ball first and the kicking team recovers it (though it can result in a single in Canadian football), but it may push the other team back toward its own end.

The longest field goal kick in NFL history is 63 yards, a record set by Tom Dempsey and shared by Jason Elam, Sebastian Janikowski, and David Akers. High school, college and most professional football leagues offer only a three-point field goal; however, some professional leagues have encouraged more rare kicks through four-point field goals. NFL Europe encouraged long field goals of 50 yards or more by making those worth four points instead of three (much like Australian rules' Super Goal or basketball's three-point line), a rule since adopted by the Stars Football League. Similarly, the sport of arena football sought (unsuccessfully) to repopularize the drop kick by making that worth four points; it failed, since only one kicker (Brian Mitchell) was able to do it with any semblance of proficiency. (In six-man football, where there is no offensive line, all field goals are worth four points instead of the usual three.)

The overall field goal percentage during the 2010 NFL season was 82.3. In comparison, Jan Stenerud, the only pure kicker in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, had a career field goal percentage of 66.8 from 1967 to 1985.