Wind Impact on Field Goals
Does wind actually hurt NFL kickers? Using every field-goal attempt in our database, here's field-goal accuracy and average make distance broken down by wind speed at kickoff.
| Wind | FG % | Avg make dist | Attempts |
|---|---|---|---|
| Calm (0–8) | 84.4% | 37.6 yd | 6588 |
| Breezy (8–15) | 83.0% | 37.3 yd | 5362 |
| Windy (15–22) | 81.1% | 37.1 yd | 1406 |
| Gale (22+) | 84.4% | 36.4 yd | 225 |
The clearest signal is in the windy (15–22 mph) band, where accuracy dips and coaches shorten their range — the gale sample is small and noisy. Long attempts are the first thing to go: teams simply stop trying 50-yarders into a stiff wind.