The two-point conversion turned 30 this year. The NFL’s first two-point conversion was scored on September 4, 1994, when Browns coach Bill Belichick called for a trick play and his extra point holder, Tom Tupa, ran the ball into the end zone. Since then, two-point conversions have typically been about a 50-50 proposition, with half of them succeeding and half falling short.
This year has been very different.
After the Giants’ failed two-point conversion on Monday night, NFL teams are 18-for-58 on two-point conversions this season. That success rate of just 31 percent is well below the historical average and well below last season, when NFL teams succeeded on 70 of their 127 two-point conversion attempts, a success rate of 55 percent.
There’s no obvious reason why two-point conversions have been so difficult to make this year; no offseason rule changes favored the defense or impaired the offense in goal-line situations. But it’s a real issue that NFL coaches should consider, especially if their offenses have already shown themselves to struggle with two-point conversions. Brian Daboll’s Giants are now 0-for-4 on two-point conversions this season. In hindsight he may have wish he had kicked.