JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Holy smokes indeed! On Saturday night against the Pittsburgh Steelers, Cam Little made NFL history by absolutely drilling a 70-yard field goal just before half. He became just the first player, regular season or preseason, to make a field goal from 70 yards or more.
NFL kickers had been teasing the feat as longer and longer field goals have become far more common. Brandon Aubry, Cam Little, and Chris Boswell have been near automatic from 50 yards and beyond. Boswell, for instance, made 13 of his 14 attempts from 50+ yards in 2024.
Last season, NFL kickers made 97.1% of kicks under 30 yards, 94.3% of kicks between 30-39 yards, 76.7% of kicks from 40-49 yards, 72.4% of kicks in the 50-59 yard range, and 26.7% of kicks beyond 60 yards.
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Generally speaking, the field goal % between 40-49 yards sits around 80%, while the field goal % from 50-59 sits around 70% so kickers actually underperformed in the 40s and overperformed in the 50s last season.
The average distance kicked is also increasing. Over the last decade, the average distance has increased by nearly three yards. In 2014, the average sat at 37.6 yards, well below the 40.2 average from this past season.
It isn’t surprising, then to hear just how many long field goals were attempted last season. NFL kickers attempted a whopping 279 field goals from at least 50 yards. Compare that to just 10 years ago when kickers attempted just 154, or go back even further to 2004 when just 91 such kicks were attempted.
Three times as many 50+ field goals were attempted in 2024 compared to 2004. I’m not sure any part of the game has changed as much. Even though teams are attempting longer and longer field goals, the kickers are making them more and more often. In 2004, kickers made 80.8% of kicks, compared to 84.0% of kicks in 2024.
Luckily for the Jaguars, Cam Little is one of those leading this renaissance. Little currently holds the Jaguars’ career field goal % record (93.1%) and is already off to a hot start, it seems in 2025. He’s as good as they come, folks
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