Eagles defensive coordinator Vic Fangio didn't mince words when he talked about how the NFL's new kicking balls have changed the game.
During his press conference on Tuesday, without anyone in the media asking him, Fangio himself brought up what no one was discussing: the ways kickers are making longer field goals.
“You know what you guys have missed?” Fangio said via ProFootballTalk. “Not just you, but everybody is. We gave up a 65-yard field goal and a 58-yard field goal [against the Buccaneers]. These kicking balls that they changed this year have drastically changed the kicking game, field goals in particular. So it’s almost like they need an asterisk here. It was the live ball era, or the asterisk for those home runs [Barry] Bonds and [Sammy] Sosa and [Mark] McGwire were hitting. The way they’ve changed the ball. The NFL, the kicking ball has drastically changed the field goals.”
The kicking ball was introduced this season and made headlines with Jacksonville Jaguars kicker Cam Little's 70-yard field goal in a 2025 preseason game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, surpassing the "official record" of 66 yards. It used to be that kickers received three new kicking balls 60 to 90 minutes before a game, but now they have all 60 kicking balls to start the season and an unlimited amount of time to use them. Fangio understands how this will change everything.
“In years past, the officials would rub them down or other people would rub them down, and you play with them,” Fangio said. “Now the balls are in house all week, and they kick those balls that they’ve had, and nobody else touches them. The guy in Dallas is going to hit a 70-plus yarder this year. You can just book it.”
In last week's 31-25 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the Eagles witnessed their opponents nailing a 65-yard field goal, the second-longest in NFL history. This has affected the way Fangio is calling his defense during the season, with an interesting comparison to baseball's steroid era.
“Yeah. I mean, who thought they would hit a 65-yarder the other day? So, it has drastically changed the game, the kicking game, and the field goal. Guys have a longer range than they used to. Kind of like Brady Anderson with the Orioles, and he went from 15 homers to 50 in one year.”
Kickers are changing the game with his long field goals
So far this season, 13 kickers are perfect beyond 50 yards, with more and more attempts being taken past that range. So far this season, Brandon Aubrey (64), Chase McLaughlin (65), Will Reichard (62), and Chris Boswell (60) have all hit from beyond 60 yards, with Jake Bates (58), Jake Elliott (58), Nick Folk (58), and Harrison Butker (59) not too far off themselves.
The ability for offenses to now be able to score from across the field is definitely a "game changer", for not just the Eagles but all NFL defenses. With opposing offenses now able to score from their own 43-yard line, defenses (especially towards the end of the game or at the half) will have to adjust in an effort not to give up a "cheap 3".
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The changing of the new line of demarcation is no different from the NBA, where the implementation of the three-point line, or other defenses trying to stop the Eagles' "Tush Push," is a notable example. With all 32 NFL teams seeking an edge, and athletes continually adjusting their strength and conditioning regimens, the emergence of the "super kickers" should not come as a surprise to anyone. With a defensive coordinator like Vic Fangio, who has been around the game for almost five decades, the Eagles have the right man calling the shots on defense to mitigate falling victim to "cheap 3's" before the half.