This is true. Punting on fourth and short is not only demoralizing, it's a poor bet statistcally. Going for it on fourth and three in enemy territory is actually a good bet for success. That bullshit about making FG's worth 2 instead of 3 is bullshit though.
Since extra points are so easy to make, why not get rid of them entirely? And since touchdowns are so easy for Tom Brady to make, why not consider making touchdowns by him only worth 5 points, instead of 6? Since SI articles are so easy to have written, why not devalue them too? Hmm, I think I will.
Shit, why not just start giving teams 3 points when they declare they want them? They're so easy. I can't believe I wasted time on this.
Wait, I have the solution. Make the uprights 6 feet wide, and have them spin clockwise and tilt up and down synchronized to lady gaga music. Then add strobe lights and have acrobats on trampolines take turns bouncing in front of the kicker, and make the team have to do it twice in a row for it to count for 1.5 pts
Deford hasn't written anything relevant in 15 years. Reading him reminds me of Sam "Mayday" Malone's venture into sports analysis... "Time to rap about a controversy Gonna take a stand, wont show no mercy A lot of folks say jocks shouldn't be Doin the sports news on TV I dont wanna hear the latest scores From broadcasting school bore So get your scores from a guy like me Who knows what its like to have a groin injury Gra..Gra...Groin Injury!"
If he wanted this to even have a chance of being taken seriously he should have looked at how devaluing field goals would change football strategy as a whole. Would this change create more incentive to go for it on fourth down at all times, or to go for two after a touchdown? This would change a lot more about football strategy than simply making coaches choose to try and score when they are in field goal range.
We should also do the CFL one better and make the game 2 downs instead of 4 or 3. Then make the ball 3 times as fat and have a vibrator feature that gets stronger the longer the QB holds it. After 20 seconds the ball would explode with confetti and you would lose possession on downs. The reporter here is really on to something here with wanting new changes!
They changed the scoring system in rugby union in the early 90s to make a try (equivalent to a TD) worth five points rather than the previous four. This was because too many teams were kicking soft penalties for three rather than going for the try. I think the NFL has a good balance of points between the two; if they wanted to try something different, and I don't think they need to, they could make the rule that in the event of a team choosing to kick for goal the ball must be snapped from the place at which it went to ground. This would mean kickers having to be able to kick from an angle rather than just hoofing it down the middle.
