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While the odds that a given field goal attempt in an NFL game will be successful are high at 1 in 1.25 (80%), the difficulty of a kick can vary depending on distance, weather conditions, and, perhaps most of all, the weight of the pressure bearing down on that kicker.

Sometimes the outcome of a game comes down to one swing of the foot, and when that happens, the team’s kicker will either be immortalized or ostracized. Or, as former NFL quarterback Drew Bledsoe once said, "When you're the kicker, you're either the hero or the loneliest guy in the world.”

To increase the pressure on a kicker, opposing coaches sometimes try to rattle kickers and throw off their timing by calling a timeout in the seconds before the ball is snapped. This practice is called “icing the kicker.” Coaches often wait until the last possible second to call a timeout—sometimes so close to the snap that the ball is hiked and kicked despite referees calling the play dead. One study found this coaching tactic lowered the probability of a kick being made from 40-55 yards by 10%. For shorter kicks, though, the impact appeared negligible.

One pressure kick can have an enormous impact on a season or even a career. In 1999, after a perfect regular season during which he made 39 of 39 field goals, Minnesota Vikings kicker Gary Anderson missed a 38-yard field goal in the NFC Championship game that would have sent the Vikings to the Super Bowl. The odds were in his favor as kicks from 30-39 yards have a 1 in 1.19 (84%) chance of being converted. Anderson finished his career in 2004 ranked second all-time in field goals made with 538 but, to heartbroken Vikings fans, Anderson’s miss may always overshadow his stellar season and career.

Few kickers are able to come through time after time when the game hangs in the balance. One is Adam Vinatieri, who during his career with the New England Patriots and Indianapolis Colts converted 22 game-winning field goals with one minute left in the fourth quarter or overtime. He is considered one of the most clutch kickers in NFL history and two of his kicks earned Super Bowl victories for the Patriots.

Not many kickers have had that kind of success in the clutch. Scott Norwood’s infamous 47-yard “Wide Right” miss for the Buffalo Bills with the clock winding down cost them Super Bowl XXV in Tampa by just 1 point. Norwood had spent all season kicking under harsh weather conditions in Buffalo but was unable to convert the kick despite minimal wind and a 71 degree game-time temperature. That defeat ended up being the first of four consecutive Super Bowl losses for the Bills. For more general information on field goal success rates over distance and over time see our Behind the Numbers feature “ It's Easier to Kick a Field Goal Today.”