Missing field goals is bad — but it’s even worse on the biggest stage.
There’s now been 2 missed extra points, and a field goal in the Super Bowl
Keep an eye on these missing points.
For now, they’re moments that were unfortunate for both the Patriots and the Eagles, but could come back to hurt them at the end of the game. There have been two missed extra points, and one missed field goal.
At the rate the game is going, it could come back to haunt of the two teams, and be something that’s talked about for years to come.
The Eagles were the first to miss an extra point.
Good news for the Eagles: They scored the first touchdown of Super Bowl 52! Alshon Jeffery burned Eric Rowe for a 34-yard leaping grab from Nick Foles.
Bad news for the Eagles: They missed the extra point. First-year kicker Jake Elliott’s point-after attempt sailed wide right, limiting the Eagles to a 9-3 lead:
The Eagles went up 15-3 with a LeGarrette Blount touchdown run in the second quarter, then tried a two-pointer to make up for the missed PAT. That failed, too, and what should’ve been a 17-3 lead was two points fewer than that.
Stephen Gostkowski then missed a 26-yard field goal.
After Rodney McLeod’s bruising stop on a third-and-2 to hold the Patriots to a fourth down, Stephen Gostkowski missed a 26-yard field goal.
26-yarders are shorter than extra points — which are 33 yards. The NFL moved the placement of them back in 2015, and it’s changed what used to be a guaranteed thing.
Gostkowski then missed his own extra point.
After James White scored his fourth touchdown in two Super Bowls, Gostkowski couldn’t seal the deal to make it a 15-12 game in favor of the Eagles.
The Super Bowl probably won’t come down to one point, but it probably will be close. All seven Patriots Super Bowl appearances this decade have come down to one score, and it’s easy to think the Patriots are just going to win obnoxiously this year.
A missed extra point early in the game can change the way the coaches plan for the rest of the game, because it leaves open the possibility that someone requires a two-point conversion attempt to even things up at some point.
The Eagles might be fine. But the Patriots can make teams pay for marginal errors.
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