Key points from the chart
- The heatmap shows the share of NFL field goal attempts made, split by distance (5-yard bins from 20 to 60+ yards) and by five-year period from 1999 to 2024.
- Short kicks barely changed. Kicks of 20 to 24 yards were made 97% to 99% of the time in every period.
- Long kicks improved the most. From 50 to 54 yards the rate rose from 56% in 1999 to 2003 to 76% in the latest row, and from 55 to 59 yards it rose from 24% to 64%.
- At 60 yards and beyond, the rate went from 0% in 1999 to 2003 to a high of 36% in 2019 to 2023.
- The creator, Conor McLaughlin, built it from NFL play-by-play data loaded with the nflreadr package [1].
NFL field goal percentage by distance, the chart in text
Title. NFL Kicker Accuracy as a Function of Distance and Year.
Subtitle. Kickers are making significantly more kicks at every distance than they did 25 years ago, with the most pronounced improvement visible beyond 50 yards.
Axes. Field goal distance, rounded down to the nearest 5 yards (20, 25, 30 and so on up to 60), against six periods of five seasons. Each cell is coloured from dark purple (low) to yellow (high) and carries its percentage. Credit line: conormclaughlin.net.
Share of field goal attempts made, as printed on each cell:
| Years | 20 to 24 yds | 25 to 29 yds | 30 to 34 yds | 35 to 39 yds | 40 to 44 yds | 45 to 49 yds | 50 to 54 yds | 55 to 59 yds | 60+ yds |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 to 2003 | 97% | 93% | 85% | 80% | 71% | 60% | 56% | 24% | 0% |
| 2004 to 2008 | 99% | 93% | 88% | 85% | 77% | 68% | 57% | 41% | 13% |
| 2009 to 2013 | 97% | 96% | 91% | 85% | 79% | 75% | 64% | 47% | 26% |
| 2014 to 2018 | 99% | 96% | 94% | 89% | 84% | 73% | 67% | 58% | 23% |
| 2019 to 2023 | 99% | 97% | 95% | 91% | 82% | 74% | 71% | 57% | 36% |
| 2024 to 2028 | 99% | 95% | 97% | 90% | 81% | 69% | 76% | 64% | 27% |
How the make rate changed over 25 years
McLaughlin’s post sums up the change between 1999 to 2003 and 2024. Kickers were 12 percentage points more accurate on kicks of 30 to 34 yards, 10 points on kicks of 40 to 44 yards, 20 points on kicks of 50 to 54 yards and 40 points on kicks of 55 to 59 yards [1]. He adds that the big gains from 50 to 59 yards have changed how the game is played, because teams now attempt more long kicks instead of punting [1].
The pattern on the heatmap follows from that. The yellow and orange area spreads to the right in each later row, while the dark cells shrink until only the 60+ column stays below 40%. In October 2026 McLaughlin returned to the data with a rolling five-year line chart for 40 to 59 yards. He wrote that kickers who made fewer than one in four attempts from 55 to 59 yards twenty-five years ago now make nearly two in three [2]. He read the 55 to 59 yard gain mainly as kickers gaining the leg to reach that distance, and the shorter gains as better accuracy at distances kickers could already reach [2].
What counts as field goal range
A field goal’s distance is measured to the goalposts, which stand at the back of the 10-yard end zone. NFL Analytic’s explainer says to take the yards from the line of scrimmage to the goal line and add 18: 10 for the end zone and about 8 for the snap back to the holder [3]. A kick from the opponent’s 30-yard line is therefore about a 48-yard attempt, and from the 40 about a 58-yard attempt [3].
The same explainer gives more recent make rates by distance. In 2021 to 2025, kicks under 30 yards went in 98.0% of the time, 30 to 39 yards 93.4%, 40 to 49 yards 79.8%, 50 to 54 yards 73.4%, 55 to 59 yards 62.7% and 60 yards or more 44.1% [3]. In 2006 to 2010 the 50 to 54 yard rate was 56.4% [3]. Those figures use different groupings from the heatmap, but they show the same rise at long range.
Notes on this infographic
- The bottom row is labelled 2024-2028, but the post was published on 5 January 2025 and its code loads seasons 1999 to 2024 [1]. That row therefore holds one season of kicks, so it rests on far fewer attempts than the five-season rows. This probably explains why 25 yards (95%) prints lower than 30 yards (97%), and 50 yards (76%) higher than 45 yards (69%) in that row.
- Distances are rounded down, so the 20 column covers kicks of 20 to 24 yards. The post’s code caps distances at 60, so the 60 column includes every kick of 60 yards or longer [1].
- The chart does not print the number of attempts in each cell. Cells at 55 yards and beyond, especially in the early periods, will be based on few kicks, so treat single-cell changes there with care.
- The data covers attempts recorded in NFL play-by-play data via nflreadr, as described in the creator’s post [1].
Sources
- Conor McLaughlin, Visualizing NFL Kicker Accuracy Trends (1999-2024), 5 January 2025. The creator’s original post with this heatmap and its R code.
- Conor McLaughlin, Revisiting NFL Kicker Accuracy: Long Shots are Becoming Routine, 19 October 2026.
- NFL Analytic, NFL Field Goal Distance: Yard-Line Table and Make Rates.
Last reviewed 30 October 2026
