RIP PAT?

Dumb. Just dumb.

 

Here, Paynendearse....Have a "Like" on me. I think H. L. has a point. Goodell needs to leave things be.

 

Get rid of the kick and make everyone go for two every time. You are either walking away with six or eight.

 

Why?

 

Again, this compounds, rather than solve, the problem being addressed.

 

The problem is it's a worthless play. Make it a play that involves strategy.

 

I think they should just walk out to the middle of the field, flip a coin and the winner can go get ice cream. This will dramatically reduce injuries and the losing team will know it was all complete luck, so they won't feel bad about themselves.

I also think pitchers in baseball should start throwing underhand.

 

When Belichick went on and on about it, I don't think he mentioned it as a safety matter. He just said it was no longer worthy of competitive attention. When the PAT was introduced, it had a certain degree of difficulty -- I think it was 80-some percent of kicks succeeded. But of the last 1,000 attempts, there is a 99.6 percent success rate.

It's a time-waster is the big thing. Best analogue is maybe when pitchers actually have to throw the intentional walk pitches instead of just ordering the guy to first base.

But of course Goodell doesn't know his own game so he just says SAFETY!!!!!

 

I don't know how often major injuries occur on PATs. I don't know how often minor injuries occur on PATs. I don't know how often intermediate injuries occur on PATs. I don't know whether the elimination of a few collisions per game would assist in slowing down the build up of CTE in players' brains. But I certainly would like to know the answer to all of these questions.

Ultimately, assuming my intuition is correct and PATs don't cause much in the way of danger to player safety, I would probably keep them as part of the game for two reasons.

First of all, I think that the ritual aspect of the PAT is important to participants and viewers alike. It's automatic, yes. And people would eventually get used to its absence. But I think that it helps turn a touchdown into just a little bit more of an event, which it should be. It gives the fans a second reason to cheer. And, hell, it might even cause a net reduction in injuries because it gives the offenses and defenses a few more moments to rest.

Second of all, I think that Goodell's proposed scoring system is too confusing. I understand that it's pretty simple, but if you have to take more than five seconds to explain scoring in sports, it's too confusing. I'm trying to think of how I would explain this to my 4-year-old, who loves football, and I know it's going to be a big ordeal. That seems like a fairly good test to me.

 

The PAT has been around since nearly the very beginning. If anything, there was more importance because field goals used to be worth as much or more than touchdowns.

Give teams a choice of a 40-yard kick, go for two from the 2, and, if you really want to make things fun, allow them to choose the 40-yard kick, but run a fake and see if they can get another 10 yards for a first down. If they do, they keep the ball and can try to score more points. If they score on the fake, it's another touchdown.

 

Clicked on this thread, then pinched itself. (Or is it he/she? Or is it him/her?)