Field goal accuracy in NFL special teams rankings has an obvious flaw: a 27-yard chip shot counts exactly the same as a 58-yard rocket. Both earn three points, yet one demands far more from the kicker.
Just ask Jacksonville’s Cam Little.
On November 2, 2025, Little stood near midfield at Allegiant Stadium, preparing for a 68-yard attempt against Las Vegas. The first half was ending. One enormous swing of his right leg sent the football sailing through the uprights, breaking Justin Tucker’s NFL record by two yards.
The kick had distance to spare.
Now compare that attempt with a routine 27-yarder. A traditional box score gives both identical credit, even though the difficulty isn’t remotely close.
Meanwhile, Seattle’s Jason Myers spent the same season showing why reliability matters as much as raw power. His five field goals in Super Bowl LX helped turn an uneven offensive performance into a championship.
The real question isn’t simply who makes the most kicks. It’s who creates the most value from the opportunities they’re given.
The Distance Illusion
Minnesota’s Will Reichard finished the 2025 regular season with 33 successful field goals on 35 attempts, an outstanding 94.3% accuracy rate.
Dallas kicker Brandon Aubrey made 36 of 42, finishing at 85.7%.
Nearly nine percentage points separated them. Yet the distance breakdown reveals a more complicated comparison.
Reichard converted 11 of 13 attempts from 50 yards or longer. Aubrey also made 11 from that range, but Dallas sent him out for 17 attempts.
Aubrey didn’t miss a single kick inside 50 yards, finishing a perfect 25-for-25 from shorter distances. All six failures came from beyond that range.
Dallas also trusted him with four attempts from 60 yards or longer. He converted three, giving the Cowboys scoring opportunities most teams couldn’t comfortably attempt.
Instagram | NFL: Brandon Aubrey’s 64-yard field goal
The 50-yard problem
Imagine a coach who refuses to attempt anything beyond 52 yards. His kicker might finish with a sparkling percentage, but the offense loses potential scoring opportunities.
Dallas took a different approach.
Aubrey’s range expanded the Cowboys’ options on fourth down, even when those difficult attempts lowered his overall accuracy.
Reichard, meanwhile, combined exceptional consistency with considerable distance. His 11-for-13 record from beyond 50 yards deserves significant credit.
Field goal accuracy in NFL special teams rankings becomes meaningful when analysts account for attempt difficulty.
A kicker who consistently converts challenging opportunities may offer more value than someone with a cleaner percentage built on manageable assignments.
What the Percentage Can’t See
A kicker’s box score tells fans what happened. Advanced metrics examine how difficult it was.
Pro Football Focus uses field-goal percentage over expectation to evaluate kickers beyond traditional accuracy figures.
Consider a specialist facing ten attempts that an average NFL kicker would convert seven times. If he makes nine, he’s delivered two successful kicks beyond expectation.
Another kicker might also finish 9-for-10, but against much easier assignments.
The percentages match. The value doesn’t.
Distance matters, but weather and mechanics complicate the picture.
A 48-yarder at Arrowhead Stadium in January presents a different challenge from the same attempt inside Allegiant Stadium.
A crosswind can push the ball off line. Slick turf can disrupt a kicker’s plant foot, while a poor hold might ruin the timing before contact.
Comparing results against expected accuracy offers a stronger foundation than simply counting makes and misses.
Why DVOA looks beyond the kicker
Aaron Schatz’s Defense-adjusted Value Over Average (DVOA) evaluates team performance against league expectations.
Its special teams component considers field goals alongside punting, returns, and coverage.
A kicker might deliver a flawless afternoon while his coverage team surrenders a touchdown return. Another club could struggle with field goals but repeatedly win field position through excellent punting.
Those outcomes influence overall special teams performance.
Consequently, NFL special teams rankings don’t simply mirror the kicking leaderboard.
Field goals provide direct scoring value, but no universal percentage of a team’s special teams rating belongs exclusively to field-goal accuracy. Different models measure those contributions differently.
When Accuracy Carries an Offense
Pittsburgh’s January 2017 playoff victory over Kansas City remains one of the clearest examples of a kicker compensating for an offense that couldn’t finish drives.
Le’Veon Bell rushed for 170 yards. The Steelers generated 389 yards of offense but couldn’t score a touchdown.
Chris Boswell kept rescuing them.
He converted six field goals, including three attempts from beyond 40 yards, establishing an NFL postseason record.
Pittsburgh won 18-16.
Kansas City’s defense stopped the Steelers from finishing drives in the end zone, but Boswell ensured those possessions still produced points.
His six successful attempts revealed the value of dependable scoring when the offense repeatedly stalls near the goal line.
Jason Myers repeated the formula
On December 14, 2025, Seattle faced Indianapolis with a similar problem.
The Seahawks gained 314 yards but couldn’t reach the end zone.
Jason Myers converted six field goals, including a 56-yard winner with 18 seconds remaining, to secure an 18-16 victory.
Myers accounted for every Seattle point.
His final attempt came moments after Indianapolis kicker Blake Grupe had put the Colts ahead with a 60-yarder.
Boswell’s six successful kicks came entirely from inside 50 yards. Myers mixed shorter opportunities with multiple long-distance attempts, including the game-winner.
Both specialists delivered perfect afternoons. Their assignments carried different levels of difficulty.
Green Bay Paid for the Misses
Twenty-one to three. Halftime. Soldier Field.
Green Bay appeared headed for the divisional playoffs against Chicago on January 10, 2026.
Jordan Love had thrown three touchdown passes, and the Packers controlled the game.
Then everything unraveled.
Chicago rallied while Green Bay kicker Brandon McManus endured a miserable night.
He missed a 55-yard attempt before halftime. Later, an unsuccessful extra point left the Packers ahead 27-16 instead of 28-16.
The Bears cut the deficit to three.
With less than three minutes remaining, McManus lined up for a 44-yard field goal that would have extended Green Bay’s advantage to six.
He missed again.
X | NFL: Brandon McManus’ missed field goal against Chicago
Caleb Williams responded by finding D.J. Moore for the winning touchdown. Chicago completed a stunning 31-27 comeback.
The Packers’ official postgame review identified seven potential points left unclaimed through McManus’ two missed field goals and unsuccessful extra point.
Those mistakes didn’t explain every defensive breakdown. Chicago still needed an extraordinary comeback.
But Green Bay’s kicking failures removed valuable protection from its shrinking lead.
Not every miss deserves the same penalty
McManus’ 55-yard attempt carried a lower expected success rate than his missed extra point.
The unsuccessful 44-yarder represented another relatively manageable scoring opportunity.
Treating all three failures equally would overlook those differences.
Field goal accuracy in NFL special teams rankings must account for difficulty rather than counting every missed kick as an identical failure.
Game situation determines how costly a mistake becomes. Evaluating a kicker’s ability requires separating difficult attempts from opportunities most specialists should convert.
Seattle’s Super Bowl Showed the Value of Reliability
Myers finished the 2025 regular season with 41 successful field goals on 48 attempts, an 85.4% conversion rate.
He also made nine of 12 attempts from 50 yards or longer and led the NFL with 171 points.
Those numbers didn’t make him the league’s most accurate kicker. Reichard and several other specialists finished with better percentages.
Then came Super Bowl LX.
Against New England on February 8, 2026, Seattle repeatedly moved into scoring range without finishing drives.
Myers converted four field goals through the first three quarters, supplying the Seahawks’ entire 12-0 lead.
His fifth successful attempt established a Super Bowl record.
X | NFL: Jason Myers’ record-setting fifth Super Bowl field goal
Seattle eventually won 29-13, with Myers contributing 17 points through five field goals and two extra points.
The Pro Football Hall of Fame credited him with an NFL-record 206 combined regular-season and postseason points.
Seattle could trust Myers to finish scoring opportunities when the offense struggled. His reliability allowed the Seahawks to build leads while their defense controlled opponents.
Still, the championship wasn’t a one-man special teams achievement.
Michael Dickson’s punting, Rashid Shaheed’s return ability, and disciplined coverage helped Seattle manage field position throughout the season.
Those contributions explain why field goal accuracy deserves substantial weight in NFL special teams rankings without becoming the only measure of a strong unit.
The Next Standard for Kicking Analytics
Cam Little’s 68-yard record and Brandon Aubrey’s remarkable range have changed what coaches consider realistic field-goal territory.
A possession reaching the opponent’s 43-yard line no longer automatically ends with a punt.
But greater range brings difficult decisions.
A successful 62-yarder produces three points that many teams couldn’t reasonably expect. A miss can hand the opposition advantageous field position.
Those outcomes demand better evaluation than a simple percentage can provide.
Field goal accuracy in NFL special teams rankings will remain essential, but the strongest models must measure distance and consistency together.
Expected field-goal performance already improves those comparisons. Future tracking technology could help evaluate wind, ball trajectory, protection quality, and snap timing more precisely.
That information may also allow analysts to distinguish individual kicking execution from mistakes elsewhere in the operation.
Still, no statistical model can completely capture every factor surrounding a difficult attempt.
Pittsburgh’s 2017 playoff victory and Seattle’s championship run offer two examples of what reliable kicking can accomplish. Boswell and Myers converted opportunities that their offenses couldn’t turn into touchdowns.
Green Bay experienced the opposite outcome. Missed kicks reduced the Packers’ margin for error as Chicago mounted its comeback.
The contrast reveals why raw percentages fall short.
A successful 55-yarder demands more than a routine extra point. Likewise, missing from long range shouldn’t carry the same statistical penalty as failing on a much easier attempt.
For NFL analysts, the challenge is identifying which kickers consistently outperform expectations without overlooking the broader special teams operation.
Distance, weather, and game circumstances all matter. So does the ability to deliver repeatedly across an entire season.
A specialist who converts routine attempts provides dependable scoring. One who regularly makes difficult kicks expands an offense’s options.
The best kickers offer both.
Range gives an offense more scoring opportunities. Accuracy makes those opportunities worth trusting.
When a coach sends his kicker out for a 52-yarder in a January crosswind, the season-long percentage matters less than whether the football clears the crossbar.
READ MORE: NFL Special Teams Rankings: The Hidden Yards That Win Games
FAQs
Why is field goal accuracy important in NFL special teams rankings?
Accurate kickers turn scoring opportunities into points. Their consistency helps teams win close games, especially when offenses struggle to finish drives.
Does field goal distance affect kicker rankings?
Yes. Longer kicks are harder to make, so advanced evaluations consider distance rather than judging every successful attempt equally.
What is field-goal percentage over expectation?
It compares a kicker’s actual success rate with the expected make rate for those attempts, accounting for difficulty.
How many field goals did Jason Myers make in Super Bowl LX?
Myers made five field goals against New England, setting a Super Bowl record. He scored 17 points in Seattle’s 29-13 victory.
Can a kicker have a lower accuracy percentage but still be more valuable?
Yes. A kicker who regularly converts difficult long-distance attempts can provide more value than one who mainly faces shorter kicks.
