Field Goal Rules: Blocked, Missed and Returned Kicks

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

How a field goal is measured and ruled good, what happens when it is blocked or missed, and when a missed kick can be returned. A clear guide to every outcome of a field goal attempt.

The announcer says a kicker is lining up a 50-yard field goal, and a viewer who looks at the yard markers is confused. The ball sits on the opponent's 33-yard line. How is that 50 yards? Then the kick sails wide right, and the defense takes over somewhere that seems to have little to do with where the kicker stood. A few minutes later another kick is blocked, the ball bounces backward and half the players on the field chase it.

A field goal attempt looks like the simplest play in football. A snap, a hold and a kick. Yet it contains some of the rulebook's most specific rules: how distance is measured, what makes a kick good, what happens to a live ball after a block and where the other team takes over after a miss. This guide takes them in order.

What a field goal is

A field goal is a kick that goes over the crossbar and between the uprights of the goal post. It is worth three points. It can be a placekick, in which the ball is held upright on the ground by a teammate, or a drop kick, in which the kicker drops the ball and kicks it just as it hits the ground. The placekick is overwhelmingly the choice, and a drop kick is a historical curiosity that is still legal.

A team may attempt a field goal on any down from scrimmage, though in practice it happens most often on fourth down or at the end of a half. Our overview of all the ways to score is in how scoring works in football.

How the distance is measured

The advertised length of a field goal is the distance from the point where the ball is kicked to the goal posts. Since the ball is held several yards behind the line of scrimmage, and since the posts stand at the back of the end zone, the kick is longer than the number of yards from the line to the goal line.

The standard arithmetic is simple.

• The end zone is 10 yards deep, and the goal posts are at the back of it at the NFL and college levels.
• The holder places the ball about 7 yards behind the line of scrimmage.
• Therefore the length of a kick is the distance from the line of scrimmage to the goal line, plus about 17 yards.

That is why a 50-yard attempt is snapped from the opponent's 33-yard line. The line of scrimmage is 33 yards from the goal line, and 33 plus 17 is 50. A kick from the opponent's 10-yard line is a 27-yard attempt. A kick from the opponent's 1-yard line is an 18-yard kick, which is why coaches rarely choose the field goal when a touchdown is that close but sometimes do at the end of a half.

The rule of thumb, add 17, works at the NFL and college levels. High school goal posts may stand on the end line or on the goal line, depending on the stadium and the state, so the arithmetic changes. When you watch a game, the announcers do the math for you, but you can do it yourself in a second.

What the goal post looks like

The dimensions matter because they decide how accurate a kicker has to be.

The high school goal is wider, which makes kicks easier for the same distance. That is one reason a player who has made a long field goal in high school may find the college posts more demanding. The uprights extend upward, and the ruling on a kick that passes over the top of an upright is made against the vertical line of the upright's inside edge, extended upward.

When a kick is good

A field goal is good when the ball passes through the vertical plane between the uprights, above the crossbar, before it touches the ground or a person. A few specific situations:

1. Hitting the crossbar or an upright and going through. The kick is good. A ball that clips the post and still crosses the plane scores.
2. Hitting the post and bouncing back. The kick is no good.
3. Curving back in. The kick must cross the plane between the uprights. A ball that passes outside the upright and then curves back is no good.
4. Going over the top of an upright. The ball must be inside the extended line of the upright. Officials judge this from behind or below the post.
5. Hitting the ground before the posts. If the ball touches the ground before it crosses the plane, the kick is no good, even if it bounces through.
6. A kick that is touched by a defender. If a defender touches the ball before it crosses the plane and it still goes through, the kick is generally good. Check your rulebook for how a touch on a blocked kick is treated.

At the NFL and college levels, two officials stand beneath the goal posts and watch the flight of the ball. When both agree that the kick is good, they raise their arms straight above their heads. The decision is made by those officials, and replay can be used in certain circumstances at the pro and college levels.

The three roles on a kick

A field goal attempt needs three specialists who do their jobs in about a second and a half.

• The long snapper sends the ball back to the holder on a perfect spiral.
• The holder catches the ball, places it on the ground with the laces facing forward, and spins it into position. He also has the option to run or pass on a fake.
• The kicker approaches and kicks.

If any of them makes a small mistake, the kick fails. We describe the techniques in kicker: the craft of placekicking, and the team's defenses against blocks are in field goal protection and blocking.

Blocked kicks

When a defender gets a hand on the ball, the kick is blocked. What happens next depends on where the ball goes.

• The ball is live. A blocked kick is a live ball. Either team can recover it and the play continues.
• The defense can advance a recovery. If the defense recovers a blocked kick, it can run with it. A blocked field goal returned for a touchdown is a rare and dramatic play.
• The kicking team can recover it too. If the kicking team gets the ball behind the line of scrimmage, the rules for what it may do next depend on the level and on the down. On fourth down, a recovery short of the line to gain usually ends the possession.
• The ball rolls beyond the line. If a blocked kick travels past the line of scrimmage and no one has touched it, the rules treat it much as they treat a missed kick, and the defense can take it.

A defender cannot jump on the shoulders of a teammate to block a kick, and rules limit how defenders may use their teammates for leverage. A penalty for illegal leverage or for a defender who lines up in a position the rulebook forbids, such as directly over the long snapper in some situations, can negate a block. These rules have been revised over the years and differ by level, so consult the rulebook for details.

Missed kicks

A kick that is not good and not blocked falls under the missed-kick rules, and the question is where the defense takes over. At the NFL level, the usual rule is as follows.

• If the missed kick goes out of bounds or into the end zone, the receiving team takes over at the spot of the kick, which is the place where the ball was held, or at the 20-yard line if the spot of the kick was inside the 20.
• If the missed kick is live in the field of play and a receiver picks it up, he can run with it like a punt return.

The spot of the kick is about seven yards behind the line of scrimmage, so the defense starts a few yards farther from its own goal than a team that took over at the line of scrimmage would. That is an important reason that a kicker who misses from long range hands the opponent excellent field position. Coaches talk about how far a kick sets the opponent back. This is one reason they may choose to go for it on fourth down instead of risking a miss from long range. The rule for the spot after a miss varies by level, and it has been revised in the past, so confirm the spot in the rulebook you follow.

Can a missed kick be returned?

Yes. A missed field goal that falls short or is not covered is a live ball in the field of play, and a returner in the end zone or deep in the field can catch it and run. Some of the longest plays in the history of the sport came from returns of missed kicks that were fielded deep in the end zone. A returner can also decline to run and kneel in the end zone for a touchback, or let the ball go out the back of the end zone.

For a kicker who aims low or has a poor hold, a short kick that a returner can field is a real risk. This is why defenses sometimes keep a speedy returner deep in the end zone on long attempts. If you want to know more about that decision, our guide to touchbacks explains how end zone results are ruled.

The fair-catch kick

One unusual rule exists at the NFL level. A team that makes a fair catch of a kick can try a field goal from the spot of the catch, with no defenders rushing, as a free kick. It is exceedingly rare and rarely discussed, but it remains a legal option. Other levels have their own provisions.

Penalties on field goals

Common fouls on field goal attempts include the following.

• Offside or encroachment by the defense. Generally a five-yard penalty, which can turn a missed kick into a good attempt or make a kick shorter.
• Roughing the kicker and running into the kicker. These protect the kicker, as we explain in roughing the kicker and running into the kicker.
• Holding on the offense. A hold by a protecting blocker can wipe out a good kick or give the defense a block.
• Illegal leverage and other block-related fouls. Rules prevent defenders from gaining unfair advantages when trying to block.
• Delay of game. If the play clock runs out, the offense is penalized, and a kick that was close to range may become a longer one.

If the defense commits a foul on a kick that was missed, the offense often can accept the penalty and retry the kick from a spot closer to the goal. If the kick is good, the offense can usually accept the points or take the penalty, depending on the situation. These choices are a good example of why the captain's decision matters, and the details are in the penalty enforcement rules.

Icing the kicker and other mind games

Coaches sometimes call a timeout just before the snap on a field goal attempt, a tactic nicknamed icing the kicker. The idea is to make the kicker wait and think. The official evidence for whether it works is mixed, and we do not claim it helps. It is a legal tactic with no penalty, and it will often be used in the final seconds of a close game.

Common mistakes and misconceptions

Several ideas about field goals are wrong.

• "A 50-yard field goal is a kick from the 50." It is a kick from the 33, because of the extra 17 yards.
• "A blocked kick is dead." It is a live ball.
• "A missed kick is returned from the end line." It is ruled at the spot of the kick or at the 20, depending on the situation and level.
• "A ball that hits the post is no good." If it hits and goes through, it counts.
• "The posts are the same everywhere." The high school posts are wider, and their location may differ.
• "The kicker is the only person who matters." The snap and hold are just as important.

If you want to see how kickers perform across the season, our leaders page lists top performers, and the scores page shows game results with scoring plays. The teams pages provide the rosters of kickers and long snappers.

The short version

• A field goal is worth three points and is a kick through the uprights and above the crossbar.
• The length of a kick is the distance from the line of scrimmage to the goal line plus about 17 yards at the NFL and college levels.
• A kick that hits the crossbar or upright and goes through is good; a ball that hits the ground first is not.
• A blocked kick is a live ball that either team can recover, and a missed kick that stays in play can be returned.
• After a miss at the NFL level, the defense generally takes over at the spot of the kick or the 20-yard line, whichever is farther from the goal line.
• High school uprights are wider and rules vary by state, so confirm the details for your level.