Two-point conversion
Encyclopedia
In American
and Canadian football
, a two-point conversion is a play a team attempts instead of kicking a one-point convert
immediately after it scores a touchdown
. In a two-point conversion attempt, the team that just scored must run a play from close to the opponent's goal line (5-yard line in Canadian, 3-yard line in amateur American, 2-yard line in professional American) and advance the ball across the goal line in the same manner as if they were scoring a touchdown. If the team succeeds, it earns two additional points on top of the six points for the touchdown. If the team fails, no additional points are scored. In either case, the team proceeds to a kickoff
.
Various sources estimate the success rate of a two-point conversion to be between 40% and 55%, significantly lower than that of the extra point, though if the higher value is to be believed, a higher expected value
is achieved through the two-point conversion than the extra point.
since 1958 and more recently in Canadian amateur football and the Canadian Football League
. In overtime situations in college football, the two-point conversion is the mandatory method of scoring after a touchdown beginning with the third overtime.
The American Football League
used the two-point conversion during its ten seasons from 1960 to 1969. After the NFL merged with the AFL
, the rule did not immediately carry over to the merged league, though they experimented in 1968 with a compromise rule (see below). The NFL adopted the two-point conversion rule in 1994.
The NFL's developmental league, NFL Europe
(and its former entity, the World League of American Football
), adopted the two-point conversion rule for its entire existence from 1991 through 2007.
Six-man football
reverses the extra point and the two-point conversion: because there is no offensive line in that league, making kick protection more difficult, plays from scrimmage are worth one point but successful kicks are worth two. It is also reversed in many high school football
and youth football leagues, since there are not often skilled kickers at that level. A variant of this, especially at the youth level, is to allow one point for a running conversion, two points for a passing conversion, and two points for a successful kick.
The Arena Football League
has recognized the two-point conversion for its entire existence (in both its original 1987–2008 incarnation and its ongoing revival), allowing for either a play from scrimmage or a drop kick
to be worth two points. (The additional extra point for a drop kick is unique to arena football
.)
In 1968, leading up to the AFL-NFL merger
, the leagues developed a radical "compromise" rule that would reconcile the fact that the NFL did not recognize the two point conversion but the AFL did: the relatively easy extra point
kick would be eliminated and only a play from scrimmage would score one point. The rule would be used for the interleague matchups for that preseason
, and would not be tried again. Both the World Football League
and the XFL
revived this concept, making it a point not to institute a two-point conversion rule so as to eliminate the easy kick. What would constitute a two-point conversion in other leagues only counted one point in the AFL-NFL games, WFL, or XFL. However, the XFL later added a rule in the playoffs that allowed the scoring team to score two (or even three) points by successfully executing a play from a point farther from the opponent's end zone (two points if the team could score from the five-yard line and three points if they could score from the ten-yard line).
in a 1998 game against the Iowa State Cyclones
.
The NFL and high schools that follow the rules of the National Federation of State High School Associations
(all U.S. high schools except those in Texas and Massachusetts, which use NCAA rules instead) do not allow this, and a two-point attempt resulting in recovery of the ball by the defense is immediately blown dead and ruled merely as 'no good', although it can, on rare occasions, result in a one-point safety. This one-point safety is the only way a team can have a score of just one point during the course of an American football game. (College and high school football assign a 1–0 score for a forfeited game.) Canadian football, however, allows another one-point play called the single
, or rouge.
Safety Conversion
NCAA rules dictate that when a safety occurs during a two point conversion or point after kick, it is worth one point.
, concluding that teams are usually better served kicking the extra point in most cases. This was consistent with the results in the XFL
, which had an average success rate of 40% for their one-point conversions. This counters Tuesday Morning Quarterback
columnist Gregg Easterbrook
's theory that since the average yards gained on a typical scrimmage play is 5 yards, that the opposite is true and that the two-point conversion would, on average
, bring a greater point value return; furthermore, Easterbrook cites the Football Prospectus, which says that the average success rate on a two-point conversion is between 50% and 55%, depending on the time frame used and the situations in which the conversion is attempted. What should be noted is that the two-point conversion usually involves goal-line defenses and are thus not typical scrimmage plays, resulting in shorter average gains. Regardless of the actual success rate, professional teams seldom use the two point conversion unless they need the extra points to catch up, preferring the near-certain single point.
While in theory a 50% success rate should result in the same amount of points scored as one point conversions, this approach does not reflect the realities of game situations. While two point conversions might result in the same number of points over a season long period this is not how success is measured. Even with a 50% success rate it is certainly possible for a team to miss multiple two point conversions in one game, and then lose to a team who scored the same number of touchdowns but scored their points-after, and while this might be followed by a game where a team makes all their two point conversions to give an average of 50% and the same number of points overall, losing and winning games is much more important for determining success.
in the early 1970s when he was offensive coordinator
under Tommy Prothro
at UCLA. The chart is still used by coaches in helping them to determine whether to go for a two point or one point conversion after a touchdown in various situations.
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
and Canadian football
Canadian football
Canadian football is a form of gridiron football played exclusively in Canada in which two teams of 12 players each compete for territorial control of a field of play long and wide attempting to advance a pointed prolate spheroid ball into the opposing team's scoring area...
, a two-point conversion is a play a team attempts instead of kicking a one-point convert
Convert
The convert or try, in American football known as "point after", and Canadian football "Point after touchdown", is a one-scrimmage down played immediately after a touchdown during which the scoring team is allowed to attempt to score an extra one point by kicking the ball through the uprights , or...
immediately after it scores a touchdown
Touchdown
A touchdown is a means of scoring in American and Canadian football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone.-Description:...
. In a two-point conversion attempt, the team that just scored must run a play from close to the opponent's goal line (5-yard line in Canadian, 3-yard line in amateur American, 2-yard line in professional American) and advance the ball across the goal line in the same manner as if they were scoring a touchdown. If the team succeeds, it earns two additional points on top of the six points for the touchdown. If the team fails, no additional points are scored. In either case, the team proceeds to a kickoff
Kickoff (American football)
A kickoff is a method of starting a drive in American football and Canadian football. Typically, a kickoff consists of one team – the "kicking team" – kicking the ball to the opposing team – the "receiving team"...
.
Various sources estimate the success rate of a two-point conversion to be between 40% and 55%, significantly lower than that of the extra point, though if the higher value is to be believed, a higher expected value
Expected value
In probability theory, the expected value of a random variable is the weighted average of all possible values that this random variable can take on...
is achieved through the two-point conversion than the extra point.
Adoption of rule
The two-point conversion rule has been used in college footballCollege football
College football refers to American football played by teams of student athletes fielded by American universities, colleges, and military academies, or Canadian football played by teams of student athletes fielded by Canadian universities...
since 1958 and more recently in Canadian amateur football and the Canadian Football League
Canadian Football League
The Canadian Football League or CFL is a professional sports league located in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football, a form of gridiron football closely related to American football....
. In overtime situations in college football, the two-point conversion is the mandatory method of scoring after a touchdown beginning with the third overtime.
The American Football League
American Football League
The American Football League was a major American Professional Football league that operated from 1960 until 1969, when the established National Football League merged with it. The upstart AFL operated in direct competition with the more established NFL throughout its existence...
used the two-point conversion during its ten seasons from 1960 to 1969. After the NFL merged with the AFL
AFL-NFL Merger
The AFL–NFL merger of 1970 was the merger of the two major professional American football leagues in the United States at the time: the National Football League and the American Football League...
, the rule did not immediately carry over to the merged league, though they experimented in 1968 with a compromise rule (see below). The NFL adopted the two-point conversion rule in 1994.
The NFL's developmental league, NFL Europe
NFL Europe
NFL Europe was an American football league which operated in Europe from 1991 until 2007. Backed by the National Football League , the largest professional American football league in the United States, it was founded as the World League of American Football to serve as a type of spring league...
(and its former entity, the World League of American Football
World League of American Football
The World League of American Football was founded in 1990 with support from the National Football League to play professional American football in North America, Europe and later possibly Asia...
), adopted the two-point conversion rule for its entire existence from 1991 through 2007.
Six-man football
Six-man football
Six-man football is a variant of American football that is played with six players per team, instead of 11.-History:6-man football was developed in 1934 by Chester High School coach Stephen Epler as an alternative means for small high schools to field a football team during the Great Depression...
reverses the extra point and the two-point conversion: because there is no offensive line in that league, making kick protection more difficult, plays from scrimmage are worth one point but successful kicks are worth two. It is also reversed in many high school football
High school football
High school football, in North America, refers to the game of football as it is played in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular interscholastic sports in both of these nations....
and youth football leagues, since there are not often skilled kickers at that level. A variant of this, especially at the youth level, is to allow one point for a running conversion, two points for a passing conversion, and two points for a successful kick.
The Arena Football League
Arena Football League
The Arena Football League is the highest level of professional indoor American football in the United States. It is currently the second longest running professional football league in the United States, after the National Football League. It was founded in 1987 by Jim Foster...
has recognized the two-point conversion for its entire existence (in both its original 1987–2008 incarnation and its ongoing revival), allowing for either a play from scrimmage or a drop kick
Drop kick
A drop kick is a type of kick in various codes of football. It involves a player dropping the ball and then kicking it when it bounces off the ground. It contrasts to a punt, wherein the player kicks the ball without letting it hit the ground first....
to be worth two points. (The additional extra point for a drop kick is unique to arena football
Arena football
Arena football is a variety of gridiron football played by the Arena Football League . It is a proprietary game, the rights to which are owned by Gridiron Enterprises, and is played indoors on a smaller field than American or Canadian outdoor football, resulting in a faster and higher-scoring game....
.)
In 1968, leading up to the AFL-NFL merger
AFL-NFL Merger
The AFL–NFL merger of 1970 was the merger of the two major professional American football leagues in the United States at the time: the National Football League and the American Football League...
, the leagues developed a radical "compromise" rule that would reconcile the fact that the NFL did not recognize the two point conversion but the AFL did: the relatively easy extra point
Extra Point
Extra Point is a twice-daily, two-minute segment on ESPN Radio that covers generic sports-related topical news and opinion. The AM edition airs Monday through Saturday at various times between 6 a.m. and 10 a.m. ET, and the PM edition airs Monday through Friday between 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. ET...
kick would be eliminated and only a play from scrimmage would score one point. The rule would be used for the interleague matchups for that preseason
National Football League exhibition season
The National Football League preseason refers to the period each year during which NFL teams play several not-for-the-record exhibition games before the actual "championship" or "regular" season starts. Beginning with the featured Pro Football Hall of Fame game in early August, five weekends of...
, and would not be tried again. Both the World Football League
World Football League
The World Football League was a short-lived gridiron football league that played in 1974 and part of 1975. Although the league's proclaimed ambition was to bring American football onto a worldwide stage, the farthest the WFL reached was placing a team – the Hawaiians – in Honolulu, Hawaii. The...
and the XFL
XFL
The XFL was a professional American football league that played for one season in 2001. The league was founded by Vince McMahon, the Chairman of the Board of Directors of WWE...
revived this concept, making it a point not to institute a two-point conversion rule so as to eliminate the easy kick. What would constitute a two-point conversion in other leagues only counted one point in the AFL-NFL games, WFL, or XFL. However, the XFL later added a rule in the playoffs that allowed the scoring team to score two (or even three) points by successfully executing a play from a point farther from the opponent's end zone (two points if the team could score from the five-yard line and three points if they could score from the ten-yard line).
Defensive two-point conversion
In American college and Canadian football (as well as, for a significant period of time, the Arena Football League, where missed extra points are rebounded back into the field of play), an intercepted two-point attempt, or one otherwise recovered by the defense, or a blocked extra point kick, can be returned to the other end zone to give the defensive team two points. The team that scored the touchdown then kicks off as normal. This is rare because of the infrequent use of the two-point conversion and the rarity of blocked extra points, and also because of the difficulty in returning the ball the full length of the field. It has proven the winning margin in some games. Only once has an individual player scored more than a single defensive two-point conversion in a game: Tony Holmes of the Texas LonghornsTexas Longhorns football
The Texas Longhorns football program is the intercollegiate football team representing The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas. The team currently competes in the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision as a member of the Big 12 Conference which is a Division I Bowl Subdivision of the National...
in a 1998 game against the Iowa State Cyclones
Iowa State Cyclones football
The Iowa State Cyclones football team represents Iowa State University in college football. The Cyclones compete in the Big 12 Conference in the NCAA's Division I Football Bowl Subdivision. ISU started playing football in 1892, however, it did not become an official sport until 1894...
.
The NFL and high schools that follow the rules of the National Federation of State High School Associations
National Federation of State High School Associations
The National Federation of State High School Associations is the body that writes the rules of competition for most high school sports and activities in the United States. Most high schools, whether public or private, belong to their state's high school association; in turn, each state association...
(all U.S. high schools except those in Texas and Massachusetts, which use NCAA rules instead) do not allow this, and a two-point attempt resulting in recovery of the ball by the defense is immediately blown dead and ruled merely as 'no good', although it can, on rare occasions, result in a one-point safety. This one-point safety is the only way a team can have a score of just one point during the course of an American football game. (College and high school football assign a 1–0 score for a forfeited game.) Canadian football, however, allows another one-point play called the single
Single (football)
In Canadian football, a single is awarded when the ball is kicked into the end zone by any legal means, other than a successful field goal, and the receiving team does not return, or kick, the ball out of its end zone...
, or rouge.
Safety Conversion
NCAA rules dictate that when a safety occurs during a two point conversion or point after kick, it is worth one point.
Mathematical application of the two-point conversion
In 2007, blogger Eric Menhart analyzed the value of going for a two point conversion compared to a field goal style extra point in the National Football LeagueNational Football League
The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...
, concluding that teams are usually better served kicking the extra point in most cases. This was consistent with the results in the XFL
XFL
The XFL was a professional American football league that played for one season in 2001. The league was founded by Vince McMahon, the Chairman of the Board of Directors of WWE...
, which had an average success rate of 40% for their one-point conversions. This counters Tuesday Morning Quarterback
Tuesday Morning Quarterback
"Tuesday Morning Quarterback" is a column written by Gregg Easterbrook on ESPN.com.The column is noted for its length and frequent sidetracking into political and non-football-related discussion...
columnist Gregg Easterbrook
Gregg Easterbrook
Gregg Edmund Easterbrook is an American writer, lecturer, and a senior editor of The New Republic. His articles have appeared in Slate, The Atlantic Monthly, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, Reuters, Wired, and Beliefnet. In addition, he was a fellow at the...
's theory that since the average yards gained on a typical scrimmage play is 5 yards, that the opposite is true and that the two-point conversion would, on average
Expected value
In probability theory, the expected value of a random variable is the weighted average of all possible values that this random variable can take on...
, bring a greater point value return; furthermore, Easterbrook cites the Football Prospectus, which says that the average success rate on a two-point conversion is between 50% and 55%, depending on the time frame used and the situations in which the conversion is attempted. What should be noted is that the two-point conversion usually involves goal-line defenses and are thus not typical scrimmage plays, resulting in shorter average gains. Regardless of the actual success rate, professional teams seldom use the two point conversion unless they need the extra points to catch up, preferring the near-certain single point.
While in theory a 50% success rate should result in the same amount of points scored as one point conversions, this approach does not reflect the realities of game situations. While two point conversions might result in the same number of points over a season long period this is not how success is measured. Even with a 50% success rate it is certainly possible for a team to miss multiple two point conversions in one game, and then lose to a team who scored the same number of touchdowns but scored their points-after, and while this might be followed by a game where a team makes all their two point conversions to give an average of 50% and the same number of points overall, losing and winning games is much more important for determining success.
Two-point conversion chart
This version of the two-point conversion chart was first developed by Dick VermeilDick Vermeil
Richard Albert "Dick" Vermeil is a former American head coach for the National Football League's Philadelphia Eagles , St. Louis Rams and Kansas City Chiefs...
in the early 1970s when he was offensive coordinator
Offensive coordinator
An offensive coordinator is a member of the coaching staff of a gridiron football team who is in charge of the offense. Generally, along with his defensive counterpart, he represents the second level of command structure after the head coach...
under Tommy Prothro
Tommy Prothro
James Thompson "Tommy" Prothro, Jr. was an American football player and coach. He served as the head football coach at Oregon State University from 1955 to 1964 and at the University of California, Los Angeles from 1965 to 1970, compiling a career college football record of 104–55–5...
at UCLA. The chart is still used by coaches in helping them to determine whether to go for a two point or one point conversion after a touchdown in various situations.
| Lead By | | Trail By | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 Point | Go For 2 | 1 Point | Go For 2 |
| 2 Points | Go For 1 | 2 Points | Go For 2 |
| 3 Points | Go For 1 | 3 Points | Go For 1 |
| 4 Points | Go For 2 | 4 Points | Decision |
| 5 Points | Go For 2 | 5 Points | Go For 2 |
| 6 Points | Go For 1 | 6 Points | Go For 1 |
| 7 Points | Go For 1 | 7 Points | Go For 1 |
| 8 Points | Go For 1 | 8 Points | Go For 1 |
| 9 Points | Go For 1 | 9 Points | Go For 2 |
| 10 Points | Go For 1 | 10 Points | Go For 1 |
| 11 Points | Go For 1 | 11 Points | Go For 2 |
| 12 Points | Go For 2 | 12 Points | Go For 2 |
| 13 Points | Go For 1 | 13 Points | Go For 1 |
| 14 Points | Go For 1 | 14 Points | Go For 1 |
| 15 Points | Go For 2 | 15 Points | Go For 1 |
| 16 Points | Go For 1 | 16 Points | Go For 2 |
| 17 Points | Go For 1 | 17 Points | Go For 1 |
| 18 Points | Go For 1 | 18 Points | Go For 1 |
| 19 Points | Go For 2 | 19 Points | Go For 2 |
| 20 Points | Go For 1 | 20 Points | Go For 1 |