Todd Archer, ESPN Staff Writer 9y

Are Cowboys holding out on PAT change?

IRVING, Texas – From the outside it sure looks like the point-after attempt will change in 2015.

To what and how still has to be worked out and could be at the next owners meetings in San Francisco. In his Monday Morning Quarterback column, Peter King offered up that 30 of the 32 teams wanted to change the PAT rules at the owners meetings but the opinions on the new rule were “all over the map,” according to one member of the competition committee.

Could the Dallas Cowboys be one of the two teams that did not offer up an opinion?

Coach Jason Garrett was asked about his thoughts on possible changes to the PAT and called himself a traditionalist.

“I don’t know that we should do much with the extra point,” Garrett said. “It seems like there’s an emphasis on that, so we’ll continue to see different options presented to us. I think the game is pretty good. I think the PAT has been almost 100 percent for a long, long time. But I understand the idea that some people view it as a dead play – I get that. So maybe it’s a small tweak that can make it more interesting, make it less of a dead play without really disrupting the tradition of the game.”

Last season 99.6 percent of the PATs were made and those wanting to change the rules want to make the play more competitive. The Cowboys have not missed a PAT since 2010 when David Buehler missed two, including one that ultimately cost them a game against the Arizona Cardinals. The Cowboys have missed four PATs since 2000.

“Again, my argument on this is it’s been pretty much a dead play for a long time. And it just seems like there’s a lot of emphasis on it in recent years. The field goal statistics that they shared with us yesterday are dramatically different. I think in 1970, it was 73 percent for a 40-yard field goal or in, now it’s 93 percent – to me that’s a significant difference. To me, the extra point has been in football for a long time and it’s kind of had the same level of certainty for a long time. It’s been good for our game for a long time. I understand the interest to change it, I get that. I just hope they don’t change it too dramatically.”

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