The NFL has a kicker problem. They have become too good, and therefore too powerful.
Last week owners tried to remedy this by moving the extra point back 13 yards—a flimsy half-measure akin to a diet that limits fast food to six times a week instead of eight. Now a 19-yard PAT that had a 99.5 percent success rate will become a 32-yard PAT with a success rate somewhere in the mid-90s. Meanwhile, viewers will still be heading to the restroom or fridge before the ball is snapped.
The answer is not to make PATs harder; it’s to make them disappear.