Missed Extra Points

Extra points are missed in one of three ways: the ball misses the goal (generally wide life or wide right; extra points are rarely if ever short, due to the fact that the attempt is relatively short), the ball hits a part of the goal and bounces away (hits the upright or crossbar), or the ball is blocked before it can travel further downfield. Any way it happens, a missed extra point is a blown chance at an easy point.

This page reports on the statistics about missed extra points over the past several NFL seasons. It includes total numbers for each segment of the NFL season, number of teams involved, the league leaders, a break down of misses by type, and some interesting notes.

• 2008
• 2007
• 2006
• Some Cumulative Stats
• Earlier in the 2000s

2008

Totals
League-wide, regular season:	6
League-wide, postseason:	2
League-wide, preseason	2

The following stats only deal with missed extra points during the regular season:

League Leaders
Team:	6 Tied with 1 (Denver, Detroit, New Orleans, Oakland, Pittsburgh, Tampa Bay)
Indvidual:	6 Tied with 1

Missed Extra Points by Type
Blocked	3
Hit Upright	2
Wide	1

Miscellaneous Fun Facts About Missed Extra Points in the 2008 Season

• NFL kickers were perfect on extra points until Week 8. Because the Week 8 miss occurred in the game played in London, the first miss on American soil didn't come until Week 9.
• The game in London – between the San Diego Chargers and New Orleans Saints – also became the second game since record-keeping started to have both a safety and a missed extra point.
• The playoffs had proportionally a lot more misses. There were 2 misses in 11 playoff games (18% of the games had a miss) vs. the 6 misses in 256 regular season games (2% of the games had a miss).

2007

Totals
League-wide, regular season:	13
League-wide, postseason:	0
League-wide, preseason:	6

The following stats only deal with missed extra points during the regular season:

League Leaders
Team:	3 Tied with 2 (Indianapolis, Jacksonville, New York Jets)
	7 Tied with 1 (Arizona, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Detroit, Minnesota, New York Jets, Washington)
Indvidual:	Lawrence Tynes (New York Giants) [2]
	Adam Vinatieri (Indianapolis Colts) [2]
	9 Tied with 1

Missed Extra Points by Type
Blocked	7
Wide	5
Hit Upright	1

Miscellaneous Fun Facts About Missed Extra Points in the 2007 Season

• Jacksonville had the dubious distinction of having two different kickers (John Carney and Josh Scobee) miss for them during the season.
• Neither of Lawrence Tynes' misses were blocked; thus, he had the dubious distinction of outright missing two kicks (i.e. he couldn't blame the protection).
• All the wide misses were wide left; not surprising because they all involved right-footed kickers.
• The San Francisco-New York Giants game in week 7 became the first game since I started keeping records with both a missed field goal and a safety.
• This marked the second consecutive year that a punter (this year: Kyle Larson of the Cincinnati Bengals), subbing for the regular kicker, missed an extra point.
• The season saw a 4-week missed extra point drought during Weeks 11-14.
• One preseason week featured 4 missed extra points among the different games.

2006

Totals
League-wide, regular season:	11
League-wide, postseason	0

The following stats only deal with missed extra points during the regular season:

League Leaders
Team:	Cincinnati (2)
	9 Tied with 1 (Green Bay, Houston, Indianapolis, Kansas City, Minnesota, New England, New Orleans, New York Jets, Tampa Bay)
Indvidual:	Shayne Graham (Cincinnati) [2]
	9 Tied with 1

Missed Extra Points by Type
Blocked	7
Hit Upright	3
Wide	1

Miscellaneous Fun Facts About Missed Extra Points in the 2006 Season

• Indianapolis' miss came when their punter (Hunter Smith) had to sub for their regular kicker.
• The misses were reasonably well-spread out through the season, with no more than 2 weeks going by without a miss and only one week (Week 17) featuring two misses.

Some Cumulative Stats

Bests and Worsts
Most Misses, League-Wide, in the Regular Season:	13 (2007) [in recording times]
	18 (2003) [in years for which I have records available]
Fewest Misses, League-Wide, in the Regular Season:	6 (2008)
Most Misses, League-Wide, in the Postseason:	2 (2008)
Most Misses, League-Wide, in the Preseason:	6 (2007)
Most Misses, Team, in the Regular Season:	2 (Cincinnati [2006]; Indianapolis, Jacksonville, New York Giants [2007])

Cumulative League Leaders
Team:	Cincinnati Bengals (3)
	Indianapolis Colts (3)
	6 Tied with 2
Indvidual:	Lawrence Tynes (Kansas City/NY Giants) [3]
	7 Tied with 2

Longest Current Streak without Missing, Team: Baltimore (since 1996)

Missed Extra Points by Type
Blocked	17
Wide	7
Hit Upright	6

Missed Extra Points Earlier in the 2000s