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Ka’imi Fairbairn celebrates after his 59-yard field goal decided the Texans’ victory over the Bills.Photograph: Alex Slitz/Getty Images
In the first 70 years of its existence, the NFL saw two successful field goals struck from 60-plus yards.
Brandon Aubrey, the Dallas Cowboys kicker, has already hit two this season alone.
Aubrey, a former professional soccer player once drafted by MLS’s Toronto FC, equalled a franchise record when he converted from 65 yards against the Baltimore Ravens last month. His effort, which sailed between the uprights with several feet to spare, was just one yard shy of the all-time NFL record by Justin Tucker, his opposite number on the day, set in 2021. Aubrey knocked another one through from 51 yards later the same game.
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And Aubrey isn’t the only NFL kicker starring in the early weeks of the new season. In Week 4, the New England Patriots’ Joey Slye hit one from 63 yards. Across the first two weeks of the season, there were 39 field goals attempted from 50-plus yards. Only four missed. That success rate of 89.7% was the highest through the first two weeks of a campaign since 2008, when only 11 field goals of 50-plus yards were attempted. As it stands through Week 5, not accounting for the Monday night game between the Kansas City Chiefs and the New Orleans Saints, the overall league-wide field goal success rate of 86.3% is the second-highest average in NFL history.
So what is behind this recent boom?
John Carney, a Super Bowl-champion kicker with the New Orleans Saints who now runs Carney Coaching, thinks technological advancements have played a key role.
“We have this little guy,” he says, raising his iPhone. “That’s very beneficial. Anybody can go out on the field, set this up and get some really good video to troubleshoot. Maybe their contact is off. Maybe their swing path is off. They can troubleshoot very quickly.
“In the past, very rarely did…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/may-see-70-yarder-nfl-080026221.html
Author : The Guardian
Publish date : 2024-10-08 08:00:26
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