Extra Point Rules

By 4Football Staff · October 14, 2026 · 10 min read

What happens after a touchdown: the one-point kick, the two-point try, where each is snapped from at each level, who can score on a failed try, and the rules that make it more than a formality.

For decades the extra point was the most predictable play in football. A touchdown was scored, the kicking team trotted on, and the crowd looked at its phone while a kicker made the kick he made nearly every time. Then the league moved the ball back, and suddenly the play had missed attempts, replays on the video board and arguments about strategy.

The extra point is the formal name for the one-point kick after a touchdown, and the rules around it are more detailed than most fans realize. There is a choice between a kick and a two-point try. There are rules about where the ball is placed, who can score and what happens on a penalty. The rules differ among the NFL, college and high school. This guide goes through all of it.

What happens after a touchdown

After a touchdown, the scoring team gets one more play, called a try or a conversion attempt, before the next kickoff. The team can choose one of two options:

• A kick. The ball is snapped, held and kicked through the uprights, the same way as a field goal. If it is good, the team gets one point. This is the extra point, also called the point after touchdown or PAT.
• A two-point try. The offense runs a normal play from scrimmage from a spot near the goal line. If the ball crosses the goal line by a run or by a catch, the team gets two points.

A try is not part of the drive that scored the touchdown, and it is not a down in the ordinary sense. The game clock does not run during it. The play ends when the ball is dead, and then the teams line up for the kickoff. A try is a scoring play, but it does not count as one of the team's regular possessions.

A touchdown is worth six points, so a touchdown plus a kick is seven, and a touchdown plus a two-point try is eight. Those totals shape late-game strategy, and our guide to how scoring works in football puts them next to the other scoring plays. The strategy of when to choose a two-point try is in two-point conversion decisions.

Where the ball is placed

The distance of the try is one of the most important differences among levels.

The ball is snapped from the yard line shown, and the holder places it about 7 yards back, as on a field goal. Add the end zone depth of 10 yards and you get the approximate length. In the NFL, the 15-yard line plus 10 plus 7 gives a kick of about 32 yards, which the league describes as about 33. In college, the 3-yard line plus 10 plus 7 gives about 20 yards.

The NFL moved the kick from the 2-yard line to the 15-yard line in 2015. Before that change, the extra point was a short kick that was missed rarely, which is why many people considered it a formality. After the change, misses became noticeable. College football has kept the 3-yard line for both options, so the extra point is still very likely to be made. The difference in distance is the reason the NFL and college have different strategic habits on tries.

The two-point try is placed differently. The NFL's 2-yard line is closer than college's 3-yard line, a small difference that makes the NFL try a little easier to convert.

How the kick works

The extra point kick follows the same rules as a field goal.

• The ball is snapped to a holder. The long snapper sends it back, the holder spots it and the kicker kicks.
• The ball must go through the uprights. The ball must pass above the crossbar and between the uprights. A kick that hits the post and goes through is good.
• Defenders can try to block it. A blocked kick is a live ball. For the full rules on blocked and missed kicks, see field goal rules: blocked, missed and returned kicks.
• A tee is not used in the NFL. Rules on tees vary by level, and some high school rule sets allow a small kicking tee for tries, so check your own rulebook.
• A drop kick is legal. A kicker may drop the ball and kick it as it bounces. This is almost never done. The most noted modern example in the NFL came at the end of the 2005 season, when a New England backup quarterback, Doug Flutie, made a drop-kick extra point.

If the kick is blocked, there is also a rule about who can score. In the NFL, the defense can score on a try. If a defender recovers a blocked kick or intercepts a pass on a two-point try and runs the ball into the other end zone, his team gets two points. College rules also allow the defense to score on a try, with differences in which plays qualify. This is a rare event, but it can happen, and a team that is not careful on a try can be punished.

How the two-point try works

The two-point try is an ordinary play from scrimmage, run from the spot that the rules set for the level. The offense can run or pass. If the offense gets the ball across the goal line, the team gets two points.

Several details matter.

1. The ball must cross the goal line. The same standard applies as for a touchdown: the ball must break the plane in possession of the offense.
2. A failed try ends immediately. If the offense does not score, the play is over once the ball is dead, and the teams proceed to the kickoff. There is no second down.
3. The defense can score. If the defense gains possession on a try and carries the ball to the other end zone, it scores two points. If the defense gains possession and the ball becomes dead in the defense's own end zone, some rulebooks award the offense a one-point safety, an extremely rare outcome.
4. A fake kick counts. A team can line up for the extra point and fake it, running or passing with the holder. That is a two-point try.

You can read more about the rules and mechanics of the two-point try in the two-point conversion explained.

A try, step by step

It helps to follow one try from the end of the touchdown to the next kickoff. This is a hypothetical NFL example.

1. The touchdown is signaled. Officials raise both arms, and the scoring team celebrates. The clock is stopped.
2. Each coach picks a unit. The scoring team sends out either its kicking unit, with a long snapper, a holder and a kicker, or its regular offense for a two-point try. The defense sends out a unit built to block a kick, or its goal-line defense if a run or pass is expected.
3. The ball is placed. The officials set it at the yard line for the level, 15 yards out for a kick or 2 yards out for a try in the NFL.
4. The play happens. The snap, hold and kick take roughly the time of a field goal. A two-point try is as long as any play from scrimmage.
5. The result is signaled. Arms up for a good kick, or a successful try signaled as a score. A miss is simply a dead ball with no signal beyond the officials' mechanics.
6. The kickoff follows. The scoring team kicks to the opponent, and the game goes on.

Notice what is missing: a down-and-distance situation. A try is not part of the possession that scored the touchdown, so the team does not get another chance if it fails.

Why the NFL moved the kick back

The NFL's change in 2015 is the most important recent shift in the rules of the extra point, and its purpose is simple. The league wanted the play to be a real contest instead of a near-certainty. By moving the kick from the 2-yard line to the 15-yard line, it made the kick longer and gave the defense a more meaningful chance to block it. Because the two-point try stayed at the 2-yard line, the gap between the safe option and the risky one narrowed.

The effect is that the NFL kicker now faces a kick of about 33 yards, long enough that a kicker with a bad day can miss, and short enough that most good kickers make the large majority of their attempts. Whether that change improved the game is a matter of opinion. What is not in doubt is that it changed how coaches and fans think about the play, which is why the NFL and college now differ so much in how they treat the try.

Choosing between the options

The decision to kick or go for two is made after the touchdown, usually in about a minute. Coaches use charts that show when a two-point try is worth the risk. Those charts are strategy, not rules, and we describe them in a separate article. The rules provide the framework.

• Most of the time, teams kick. A kick is the high-percentage choice at every level.
• Teams go for two when the score makes it valuable. A team that trails by a certain amount may want eight points so that a later field goal ties instead of losing.
• A team that is far ahead may go for two to extend a lead. This sometimes draws criticism as a show of disrespect, but the rulebook has no objection.
• At the end of the game, the try may not be played. If the result of the game cannot be changed by the try, the officials usually do not play it.

When a try is not allowed

The try is not available after every score.

• After a field goal. There is no try. A field goal is worth three points and the game proceeds to a kickoff.
• After a safety. There is no try. The team that gave up the safety kicks to the scoring team.
• After a defensive touchdown. There usually is one. If the defense scores a touchdown on an interception or fumble return, that team gets a try.
• In overtime. Procedures differ by league and have been revised more than once. At the college level, the overtime rules require two-point tries in later overtime periods. Check the current rulebook for the league you follow.

Penalties on a try

Penalties on a try are enforced in a simplified way.

• A foul by the defense can move the ball closer to the goal line, but not closer than half the distance to the goal line. Some fouls allow the offense to replay the try.
• A foul by the offense can move the ball back and give the offense another attempt, which makes the try harder.
• Personal fouls can be enforced on the next kickoff if the try is not replayed.

The rules about enforcement are specific, and the penalties for a foul on a try depend on the level. For the general principles, see the guides on penalty enforcement on this site.

Differences in strategy by level

The level changes the decision. In the NFL, the kick is long enough that it is not automatic, so teams weigh it against the two-point try more carefully. In college, the kick is short, so the extra point is much closer to a sure thing and the two-point try has to justify the risk of giving up a near-certain point. High school teams vary a great deal, because kickers at that level range from very reliable to untested, and a coach's choice often reflects the kicker he has. These are general patterns, not statistics.

If you want to see how kickers and offenses are doing, our leaders page and players pages list kicker data, and the scores page includes scoring summaries that show whether a team kicked or tried for two. If you play recreationally, the Play section has resources for pickup and flag games, where point-after rules are often simplified.

Common mistakes and misconceptions

Some beliefs about extra points are wrong.

• "An extra point is automatic." It was nearly automatic in the NFL before 2015, but it is not now, and its difficulty varies by level.
• "A two-point try is a normal drive." It is a single play from near the goal line.
• "A failed try gives the ball to the other team where it ended." It does not. The next play is a kickoff.
• "The defense can never score on a try." It can, and the rare cases are well defined.
• "A touchdown always has a try." A try is almost always allowed, but the officials may skip it when the result cannot change the outcome.
• "The extra point and PAT are different plays." They are two names for the same kick.

The short version

• After a touchdown the scoring team gets a try: a kick for one point or a play from scrimmage for two.
• The NFL snaps the kick from the 15-yard line and the two-point try from the 2; college uses the 3-yard line for both, and high school usually uses the 3.
• The NFL moved the kick back in 2015, which made misses noticeable.
• The kick follows field goal rules, a blocked kick is live, and the defense can score on a try in some situations.
• There is no try after a field goal or a safety, and overtime rules differ by league.
• Check the current rulebook for your level, since spots, penalties and overtime procedures are revised from time to time.