It's way past time for the NFL to do something about the field goal. It's been week after week of ho-hum 50-plus-yard field goals. They not only are the most boring plays, but they rob the league of many potentially great plays, especially fourth-down possession plays.
The first fix has to be narrowing the goal posts. Fifty-plus-yard field goals are commonplace. Narrowing the posts would likely prompt more fourth-down possession plays and inject more excitement instead of robbing fans of the passion for tackle football. They are there to see tackle football, not soccer.
Another of my gripes is the plethora of game-winning field goals. Because of the ease in which teams produce three points by field goal, many games are won by the field goal in the last minutes. This needs to end. Last year, there was one week where there were five game-winning field goals. Think of that, a tackle football game won on a soccer play? This is ludicrous. At some point in time, maybe after the two-minute warning, field goals should be forbidden. A touchdown produced by tackle football should be the only way to win or lose a football game.
LOUIS SCHEPPEGRELL?
Kenner