The NFL changed the K-ball procedures for 2025, giving teams far more access to the balls used for field goals, kickoffs, and extra points. Earlier this month, Eagles defensive coordinator Vic Fangio suggested that the new rules require an asterisk for the rash of extra-long field goals.
That prompted an effort by some to downplay the impact of the ability to work on the balls used for the kicking game.
The new procedures dramatically extend the ability of teams to prepare kicking balls for use in games, with the goal of making them less slick and expanding the sweet spot. Previously, teams got new balls right out of the box not long before kickoff. That provided limited time to prepare the kicking balls.
One special-teams coordinator recently told PFT that the revised procedures have indeed helped, adding roughly five to seven yards to a kicker’s range.
The anecdotal evidence is indisputable. Buccaneers kicker Chase McLaughlin recently hit a 65-yard field goal with room to spare; the all-time record of 66 hit the crossbar and bounced through.
In the preseason, Jaguars kicker Cam Little easily converted from 70. A Week 1 60-yard game winner from Steelers kicker Chris Boswell looked like it would have been good from at least 70.
Even the now-routine 50-plus-yard kicks are sailing through the uprights with ease, looking as strong as extra points.
For a league that craves scoring, it’s hardly a problem. But it absolutely shifts the dynamics of the game, especially when time is a factor. Given the revised kickoff rules, which tend to improve starting field position, it doesn’t take many seconds on the clock to get a team in position for another three points.
Especially when the plausible range for launching a fully-prepared K-ball has gotten longer than ever.
It adds more points, more drama, more excitement to the game. Which is precisely what the NFL wants.
So, yes, Justin Tucker’s 66-yard record seems to be destined to fall, with 70 as the new goal. Then, the question will be whether and when someone will hit from 71, 72, 73, 74, and eventually 75 yards.
