Perspective on the 50+ yard field goal

[algoody421]

I know a lot of people wonder why the cpu punts on the 32 yard line when its "only" a 49 yarder, when many human players would opt to take the fg. But in real life, its not so easy a decision. In fact, if you look at the last years kickers stats, you'll see how few 50+ yarders are kicked(and made) in a full season. Ive cut the list down to total fgs attempted and made, total fg % and then just 40 and 50 yarders made and attempted.

1 Blair Walsh, PK MIN 35 38 92.1 7-9 10-10
Phil Dawson, PK CLE 29 31 93.5 6-6 7-7
Zuerlein, PK STL 23 31 74.2 7-7 7-13
4 Janikowski, PK OAK 31 34 91.2 5-5 6-9
Connor Barth, PK TB 28 33 84.8 12-13 6-9
6 Vinatieri, PK IND 26 33 78.8 9-10 4-7
Graham, PK HOU 31 38 81.6 7-9 4-9
Bryant, PK ATL 33 38 86.8 10-13 4-4
Tucker, PK BAL 30 33 90.9 10-13 4-4
10 Nick Folk, PK NYJ 21 27 77.8 5-7 3-4
Matt Prater, PK DEN 26 32 81.3 5-9 3-4
Hartley, PK NO 18 22 81.8 2-3 3-4
Dan Bailey, PK DAL 29 31 93.5 7-7 3-5
14 Hanson, PK DET 32 36 88.9 16-19 2-3
David Akers, PK SF 29 42 69.0 7-13 2-6
Jay Feely, PK ARI 25 28 89.3 8-10 2-2
Nick Novak, PK SD 18 20 90.0 4-4 2-4
Gould, PK CHI 21 25 84.0 7-9 2-2
Gostkowski, PK NE 29 35 82.9 9-13 2-2
Crosby, PK GB 21 33 63.6 9-12 2-9

So as you can see, only 9 teams had a player kick MORE than 5(not including the ones who kicked 5) 50+ yarders. Only Greg zuelein kicked more than 10 from 50+(aka the 33 yard line or further), and he only kicked 13, less than a one per game average.

Looking at even 40+ yarders, no one kicked more than 13(less than 1 a game average) other than hanson(detroit lions kicker), he kicked 19. Thats still only 1 a game on average....

Combine them both and fg kickers dont take more than 25 of both of those in a season usually. Its just not common at all. You take fgs from 20+ and 30+ because they have a high success rate, and if you miss them, your opponent is still on or inside their own 20 even. But 40+ you really have to worry about the field position you leave your opponent when you miss.

Fact of the matter is, any kick 40 yards or deeper is a tough kick in a real game. A coach has to decide if its worth the risk or do you just take a delay of game and give your punter more room to get it inside the 20. In real life, MANY Coaches will just take the penalty and give their d a chance to stop the offense over the 80 yards instead of only 60 with a missed 40+ yarder.

This game doesnt have the cpu coach taking a penalty to give them more room to punt better, they just punt it from where they are, thats the only thing this game does wrong in this instance.

[Wheeler Dealer]

A FG from the 31 is definitely not always a good idea. Good kickers in the NFL only make a bit over 70% from that distance and they only try it when wind conditions and warm ups make them believe they can make it (or when they are desperate). Only my best kickers in the game hit 70% from 50+ yards.

My first choice is to go for it. Punting in this game is only going to gain you 11 yards. I routinely give that up if I have a reasonable shot at a first down.

The FG is my second choice mainly because I give up an extra 7 yards if I fail.

Punting from the 31 to say the 35, I hate it. A little further out and I'll put in the placekicker to punt. I've had that work out well a few times. I suppose I could try letting another random player punt from the 31..

[algoody421]

Find an accurate punter, the higher the accuracy the better. Sure they will have a bad punt here or there still but usually they kick the ball perfectly to land inside the 5 unless there's wind behind their back. Everyone puts an emphasis on power with punters but accuracy is much more important for a strong offensive team. They are less likely to have a 3 and out needing to punt from their own 20 or inside it. They can still get it to the 40 yard line with the wind(8mph+) behind their back in those instances though. But when you punt from anywhere between the 40s, an accurate punter is gonna do a lot better.

[Wheeler Dealer]

Quote: Originally Posted by algoody421

Find an accurate punter, the higher the accuracy the better. Sure they will have a bad punt here or there still but usually they kick the ball perfectly to land inside the 5 unless there's wind behind their back......

I hadn't thought of that, I'll try it.

So, do you usually punt from the 31-35 yard lines?

[algoody421]

Me, no, but I have robbie good as gold gould. He's a 92 kpw and 95 accuracy if I remember correctly. unless the wind is in my face, then sure, I punt here and there. They do the coffin corner if they're accurate enough. I've had some go out at the 15, its rarer for the ball to land inside the 5 but it does happen with the best accuracy punters.

I've seen punters get it directly on the 1 yard line from the 40. 35 they can get it out of bounds at the 10 or 5 unless there's too much wind at their back. Punters love wind in their face on shorter punts though. Allows them to put the ball higher in the air and use more power. That gives the coverage a chance to get to it before it goes out of bounds or force a fair catch.

It really depends on the situations though. If Im up a lot, I'll punt to give the opponent the ball back. If the game is still tight, I kick field goals if its not within 3 yards. I dont like kicking 50+ yard fgs but I will if I think the placement is good and I have a great kicker.

HOWEVER, if Im versing the colts or pats or seahawks while holmgren is still around, the eagles, etc(best offenses), I'll punt if I dont think I can get the first. I dont like giving those teams field position. They're gonna make you pay for it...

[jshrolltide]

algoody, what are your sliders? I had heard they were good, and I'm always up to try a good set of sliders.

[algoody421]

Same for both human and cpu

25 50 50 50 75
50 50 25 50 25(25 for tackle and int in case those are out of order)
100 75 100 75 50

all penalties at 100 except face mask clipping holding and defensive pi stay at 50.

If you want to see the results of these sliders minus the adjustment of putting knockdowns and catching back at 50 and moving fg accuracy to 75, read the topic called baltimore beatdown. he's using my sliders and you can see how the stats work out cause he puts up stat boxes for each game he plays.

Quote: Originally Posted by thoro_headz

Week 2 Baltimore Ravens @ Houston Texans Reliant Stadium, 4:15 PM EST Baltimore Ravens at Houston Texans Sep 14, 2008 1 2 3 4 F BAL (2-0) 0 16 3 3 22 HOU (1-1) 7 0 13 0 20 Top Performers PASS: M. Schaub (HOU) - 248 Yds, 3 TD RUSH: R. Rice (BAL) - 126 Yds, TD REC: M. Clayton (BAL) - 106 Yds Team Stats Comparison BAL HOU First Downs 19 8 3rd Down Efficiency 6/13 1/8 4th Down Efficiency 1/1 0/0 Total Yards 507 329 Passing Yards 175 248 Rushing Yards 170 15 Penalties-Penalty Yards 2-15 4-55 Turnovers 3 1 Time of Possession 37:03 22:52 Scoring Summary FIRST QUARTER SCORING BAL HOU 11:18 (HOU) TD: Owen Daniels, 18 Yd pass from Matt Schaub (Olindo Mare kick) 0 7 SECOND QUARTER SCORING BAL HOU 13:07 (BAL) TD: Ray Rice, 3 Yd run (Matt Stover kick) 7 7 3:41 (BAL) TD: T. Smith, 10 Yd run (Matt Stover kick) 14 7 0:10 (BAL) Safety: Prescott Burgess 16 7 THIRD QUARTER SCORING BAL HOU 6:46 (HOU) TD: Andre Johnson, 60 Yd pass from Matt Schaub (Olindo Mare kick) 16 14 5:35 (HOU) TD: Bernard Berrian, 39 Yd pass from Matt Schaub (2-Pt failed) 16 20 1:08 (BAL) FG: Matt Stover, 33 Yd 19 20 FOURTH QUARTER SCORING BAL HOU 0:00 (BAL) FG: Matt Stover, 32 Yd 22 20 Baltimore Ravens PASSING C/A YDS TD INT T. Smith 11/28 182 0 2 RUSHING ATT YDS AVG TD R. Rice 26 126 4.8 1 M. Pittman 5 23 4.6 0 T. Smith 8 21 2.6 1 RECEIVING REC YDS AVG TD M. Clayton 5 106 21.2 0 D. Mason 4 51 12.7 0 M. Manningham 1 10 10.0 0 D. Williams 1 15 15.0 0 BLOCKING PANCAKE SACK L. McClain 1 0 B. Grubbs 1 1 DEFENSE TACK SACK INT TD C. McAlister 6 0 0 0 J. Johnson 6 1 0 0 T. Suggs 6 0 0 0 A. Barnes 4 0 0 0 D. Landry 4 0 0 0 P. Burgess 3 0 0 0 K. Gregg 2 0 0 0 R. Lewis 2 0 0 0 S. Rolle 2 0 0 0 E. Reed 2 0 0 0 D. Edwards 1 0 0 0 C. Ivy 1 0 0 0 KICKING FG XP PTS LG M. Stover 2/2 2/2 8 33 PUNTING TOT YDS AVG -20 S. Koch 4 166 41.5 2 KICK RETURN RET YDS AVG TD M. Clayton 3 78 26.0 0 Y. Figurs 2 52 26.0 0 PUNT RETURN RET YDS AVG TD L. McKelvin 5 32 6.4 0 Houston Texans PASSING C/A YDS TD INT M. Schaub 13/19 248 3 0 RUSHING ATT YDS AVG TD A. Green 22 23 1.0 0 M. Schaub 2 -8 -4.0 0 RECEIVING REC YDS AVG TD A. Johnson 3 100 33.3 1 A. Davis 3 54 18.0 0 K. Walter 2 16 8.0 0 O. Daniels 2 34 17.0 1 V. Leach 1 2 2.0 0 B. Berrian 1 39 39.0 1 A. Green 1 3 3.0 0 BLOCKING PANCAKE SACK V. Leach 3 0 DEFENSE TACK SACK INT TD D. Ryans 12 0 1 0 C. Steltz 9 0 0 0 D. Williams 8 1 0 0 D. Robinson 6 0 0 0 F. Bennett 5 0 0 0 L. Marshall 5 0 0 0 R. Hill 4 0 0 0 D. Smith 4 0 1 0 M. Williams 4 1 0 0 A. Bryant 2 0 0 0 R. Bryant 2 0 0 0 B. Redd 2 0 0 0 C. Hall 2 0 0 0 B. Smith 1 0 0 0 D. Robinson 1 0 0 0 KICKING FG XP PTS LG O. Mare 0/0 2/2 2 n/a PUNTING TOT YDS AVG -20 M. Berger 6 240 40.0 0 KICK RETURN RET YDS AVG TD D. Smith 2 51 25.5 0 A. Davis 1 15 15.0 0

I cant fix touchbacks for players like serna. he will always get tbs, but anyone else will usually be fine on 50 kick off power as long as they dont have like 95+ kicking power. If you think there are too many touch backs, drop it to 25, or 0 if you have serna but know that it will kill the cpu as well.

But those sliders combined with my house rules will make sure stats are fairly realistic at every position. Main house rule is to pick your own plays(not defer or ask coach/by success), and once you have a lead, you cant use mastered plays anymore unless the game is tight and you need a 3rd or 4th down conversion. Also, I run the clock down to 20 on offense before I select the play I want to use and I run the ball on first down as much as possible to keep the clock running. And if the clock is running while Im on defense, I let it run until it skips to 11 seconds, then pick my play as to run as much clock as possible. That will keep games closer to 20-30 points per team.

I just had a game go 10-13 against the ravens. Coulda tied it with 10 seconds left but I got greedy without a timeout and couldnt get the fg squad out before the clock ran out... first loss of the season with my new and improved 2nd season bears, took too many early draft picks so my team is kinda beastly(got doki somanu, noah wyoming, and ozzie jones from picks at 21 28 and 30. Granted, I needed doki and noah, I just didnt want ne or seattle to get ozzie!

Also, while sliders wont fix everything, they will make the game play more realistically as long as you limit mastered plays on both sides of the ball. When set up like this and playing this way, you will have much more realistic stats/games over the whole season.

[Wheeler Dealer]

Quote: Originally Posted by algoody421

I just had a game go 10-13 against the ravens. Coulda tied it with 10 seconds left but I got greedy without a timeout and couldnt get the fg squad out before the clock ran out....

I know a trick I have used in that situation. (Learned it here.) I'm not even sure if I like it, seems like abusing a bug, but then I feel like the cpu takes unfair advantage with that hurry up, with audibles, at the end of a half!

If you just press circle instead of calling the FG, the FG team teleports into place and immediately takes the kick. All you need is two or three seconds left on the clock.

A couple of nights back I got greedy just before half. I was on the 5 yd line with 5 seconds to go. I decided I could get off a quick pass for a TD or incomplete and then go for the FG.

You know what happened, I got sacked, but, then I pressed the circle and presto, FG team appears and makes the kick. On the score recap it showed the score at 0:01 in the 2nd quarter.

I've actually done that twice now.