Two-Point Conversion Stirs Doubt

Chicago Bears coach Dave Wannstedt experienced both the agony and the ecstasy of the two-point conversion as defensive coordinator at the University of Miami.

“When we won the national championship against Florida State, we were down by two touchdowns,” he said. “We went for two-point conversions two times in a row and made it twice. Then, at the end of the game, they scored and went for two and didn’t make it and we won the national championship.

“The next year, we’re playing Notre Dame, and we go for two on the last play of the game and don’t make it. They beat us, 31-30, and we lose the national championship.

” In this, Wannstedt’s second season as an NFL head coach, the two-point conversion has walked back into his life. The NFL, in an attempt to add some pizazz - and a little more scoring - to its game, finally has followed the colleges’ lead and added the two-point conversion to its rule book. It debuted this weekend when the league opened the preseason with five games.

Having it and using it are two different things, however, and only time will tell how willing the league’s coaches are in using that option.

“Right now, I don’t think anybody knows,” said Green Bay Packers defensive coordinator Fritz Shurmur. “I think you’re going to see a lot of it in the preseason. That’s the experimentation time. That’s when nobody’s job is on the line. It’s easier to make that decision in the preseason. But it will be harder to make that decision in the regular season.”

Kansas City Chiefs coach Marty Schottenheimer said: “We’ll probably go for two a lot in the preseason. I think most clubs will. You’ve got nothing to lose in the preseason. But I don’t know how much we’re going to see it once we start playing for real.

” Said Detroit Lions coach Wayne Fontes: “If you see it three times all year, you’ll be lucky.”

Most of the league’s coaches aren’t crazy about adding the two-point conversion. The owners were aware of that last March at the league meetings in Orlando, Fla., which is why they locked coaches out of the room when they voted.

“I didn’t like the idea at first,” said Miami Dolphins coach Don Shula, a co-chairman of the league competition committee. “But the more I looked at it, the more I realized it could help our league. It’s a way to add excitement to our league and add a premium to touchdowns.

“It puts more pressure on the coaches. But I don’t know how you can get any more pressure on you than we have right now anyhow. So what’s a little more?”

Last year, NCAA Division I-A teams used the twopoint conversion nine percent of the time. The success rate was 43 percent. The colleges, though, attempt their two-point conversions from the 3-yard line. The NFL will use the 2-yard line.

“The percentage of scoring still will be less than 50 percent,” Buffalo Bills coach Marv Levy predicted. “Goal-line defenses are awfully good. That’s why scoring is down in the first place.”

Shurmur of the Packers said: “I was in college football when the two-point rule first came in. It was used very sparingly to begin with. And in college, there’s no overtime. So it’s easier to go for two. If you need to win, you’re going to do it.”

You likely won’t see many NFL coaches go for two at the end of a game if they’re down by a point. Not when they can play for the tie and try to win in overtime.

Denver Broncos coach Wade Phillips said: “I can’t imagine any coach going for two to win the game when you’ve got a 99.9 percent chance of tying the game (with an extra point) and less than 50 percent chance of winning the game.”

So when will teams go for two?

“The only real value where you’ll see it is if a team is down by 11 (and scores a touchdown) or is down by 15 (and scores),” Levy said.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers coach Sam Wyche said: “Where you’ll see the two-point conversion attempted is when you take a five-point lead and there’s 6 minutes left in the game. Your opponent is going to have two, maybe three possessions more. If you go for one, you’ve got a sixpoint lead. Field goal still doesn’t beat you, but a touchdown does. If you go for two, a field goal doesn’t beat you and a touchdown only ties.”

Some clubs are experimenting in training camp with a “two-point quarterback” - maybe a running back or a wide receiver with quarterback experience.

The Minnesota Vikings have worked out rookie wide receiver David Palmer in that role, and the New York Giants are said to be thinking of doing the same with Dave Meggett.

“If you’ve got a guy like a Palmer on your team, you might try him,” Wyche said. “Maybe you put him in the shotgun or run the option.”

Said Dennis Green of the Vikings: “From the 2-yard line, the option would be very difficult to stop.”