Eagles' STC On Historic Week For NFL Kickers

Sloppy football was the story for Week 1 but not for the NFL's kickers.

Eagles STC Michael Clay / John McMullen/Eagles on SI

PHILADELPHIA - There was a lot of talk about how sloppy the football was around the NFL during Week 1 of the 2024 season.

For the most part that constructive criticism is valid. The outlier, however, is the placekickers where Week 1 proved to be downright historic.

The opening week around the league featured 21 field goals made from at least 50 yards. That’s six more than in any other week in NFL history. That number doesn't even include a 66-yarder from strong-legged Dallas Cowboys kicker Brandon Aubrey that would have matched Justin Tucker's record for the longest FG in league lore but was negated by a delay-of-game penalty.

Typically when you see any record being broken, the new standard is incremental, not a 40 percent leap.

Eagles on SI asked Philadelphia special teams coach Michael Clay on his thoughts about the crazy start to the 2024 season for kickers.

“Kickers are getting better,” Clay said. “Just like anything else, offensive, defensive players are getting bigger, faster, stronger. These kickers, they start it so young with all these kicking camps, they just start getting better and better, and the accuracy is getting better as we move forward.”

Clay did note the early-season conditions helped the spike as well.

“Early on in the season, I could see that happening where there's a high percentage of makes from 50-plus because a lot of the weather is pretty nice,” he said. “Not a lot of gusts, good weather. I know it was like 92 degrees in Miami, that ball is going to travel, things of that nature, and Seattle it looked like a beautiful day.”

The weather will ultimately force a regression.

“I think that number will start to taper as the weather starts to change,” said Clay. 

A regression back to the mean is likely not in the cards because the kickers themselves have gotten so much better.

“You've got to give credit to these players out here, they just get better and better coming from high school to college, all the way up through the ranks,” Clay said. “They are such perfectionists, they start to understand how, what the wind is doing, how it changes from 40-yard line, 45 yards, 50 yards, how they can play it. It's kudos to the players for just getting better and better.

“The field goal team, they take pride in it, making sure all three points go on. I think that number will start to taper down as the weather changes, but 21-of-23 is pretty impressive league-wide.”

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