Point after touchdown

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Typical line-up of both teams when trying to score an extra point

The point after touchdown (PAT) (in English also called conversion , try , or in German extra point (s) ) is a move in American football or Canadian football . You try to get one or two extra points after a touchdown . The line of scrimmage is placed close to the opposing end zone , with the exact distance varying depending on the league. The point after touchdown has been around since the early days of American football when the sport evolved from rugby .

Offensive point wins

Extra point

A successful extra point gives you an additional point on top of the six points you have already earned with a touchdown. With this variant, the ball is kicked through the goal posts by the kicker like a field goal . This variant usually leads to a certain point gain and is therefore usually used. In the National Football League , football was placed on the opposing 2- yard line until the 2014 season , and the 15-yard line has been in effect since 2015. The 3-yard line is used in college football and the 5-yard line is used in Canadian football.

Two-point conversion

With a successful two-point conversion , the executing team, as the name suggests, receives two additional points. As in a normal touchdown, the offense must push the football into the end zone by running or passing . Depending on the league, the line of scrimmage is on the 2-yard line (NFL), 3-yard line (College Football) or the 5-yard line (Canadian Football). Despite the proximity to the end zone, this variant does not always work and is therefore only used if you urgently need the one point that you win compared to an ordinary extra point (e.g. if the attacking team still has a touchdown shortly before the end 2 points behind).

One point safety

One of the rarest extra points is safety . If the offense does not score a touchdown or a field goal during the try, it receives no points; unless 1.) a defense player commits a foul in his end zone or 2.) an offense player fumbles before the end zone, a kick is blocked or a ball is intercepted and the ball is then removed from the by a defense player The field is carried into the end zone, where it is tackled or the ball fumbles out. In both of these cases, the offense receives a point (if a ball comes from the field of play into the end zone and is only recovered or caught there by the defense, this is considered a touchback, which does not score any points).

This so-called 1-point safety occurred twice in college football and never before in the NFL.

Defensive point wins

In college football and (since 2015) in the NFL, the defending team can run blocked extra points or intercepted or fumbled conversions back into the opposing end zone and receives two points for this. Stephone Anthony , a linebacker for the New Orleans Saints , became the first NFL player to do so when he carried an extra-point blocked kick back into the Panthers end zone against the Carolina Panthers on December 6, 2015 .

Theoretically, it would also be possible to achieve one point safety through defense . To do this, the offense player in possession of the ball would have to be tackled in his own end zone. Due to the large distance to the end zone of the offense (about 80 yards with a blocked PAT in the NFL) this is very unlikely and has never happened in the NFL.

swell

  1. ↑ a b c NFL moves extra point to 15-yard line for 2015 season , NFL.com
  2. ^ Blocked PAT ends in 1-point safety for Oregon (Yes, a 1-point safety) , CBS Sports
  3. ↑ a b N.FL Team Scoring Just 1 Point? Now It's Possible , New York Times
  4. ↑ Christopher Dabe: Stephone Anthony makes NFL history with return of blocked kick for 2-point conversion , nola.com. December 6, 2015. Accessed December 7, 2015. 

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