Quote:
Originally Posted by KI Skins Fan
I was talking about extra points, not field goals. Extra points would not even exist if I had my way. For the record, I'm not too crazy about FG's either but I can see some justification for having them as part of the game.
The rationale for the extra point is weak, as illustrated below:
TD - You get 6 points for putting the ball in the end zone.
FG - You get a chance to score 3 points because you have gained good enough field position to try for it.
Safety - You get 2 points and the ball because you forced the other team back into it's own end zone.
Extra Point - You get to try for one or two points because...well, because you just got six points.
It makes no sense to me that one touchdown should, in effect, be worth less than another touchdown because of a failed extra point attempt. That is especially so because teams only get to try for extra points when they score touchdowns. The extra point itself has no standalone value in the NFL's scoring system. That's because the extra point itself doesn't represent any team accomplishment meaningful enough to be worth a point on its own. So why should a practically meaningless extra point determine a game?
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I get the point you are making. I think it lends itself to making the TD worth 7 in and of itself. I believe that the XP originated (if I am wrong, please let me know) as a chance to get one more point for getting in the endzone, and thus making one drive that ends in the endzone a bit more valuable then two drives ending in FG's. A secondary rationale was to make ties less likely.
Given your reasoning, I would think you would like the idea of a 7 point TD, with an option of risking 1 point for gaining another by having one play to either put it in the endzone or not. I say that thinking both offense and defense get an opportunity to make 1 point for their team, since the offense scored it gets to decide if it wants to take the risk. If the defense holds, the other team loses a point(in effect scoring a point for your team). I tend to like that option over pushing the XP back 15 to 20 yds.