Where Does the NFL Put the Ball for Extra Points and Two-Point Tries?

An NFL team that chooses a one-point kick puts the ball in play at the defending team’s 15-yard line. A team that chooses a two-point run or pass starts at the 2. Those are the lines of scrimmage for the Try, not the location where the kick is struck or where every player must stand.

The offense also chooses the ball’s horizontal position anywhere between the inbound lines. Once the referee has made the ball ready for play, the offense cannot simply change from a kick to a two-point play—or the other way around—unless an accepted penalty or a charged timeout gives it that opportunity.

The NFL Try spots at a glance

Choice	Starting spot and value	What can change
One-point kick	Snap at the defense’s 15-yard line; a successful kick is worth one point.	The offense may switch its choice after an accepted penalty or a charged timeout.
Two-point run or pass	Snap at the defense’s 2-yard line; a Try touchdown is worth two points.	The same change rule applies after the ready-for-play signal.
Horizontal placement	The offense may place the ball anywhere between the inbound lines.	The team can choose the hash or a point between the hashes before the down.

These rules come from Rule 11, Section 3, Articles 1–2 of the 2026 NFL rulebook. The rulebook calls the entire untimed down after a touchdown the “Try.” The familiar terms extra point and two-point conversion describe the scoring choices within that down.

What an NFL Try actually is

A Try is one scrimmage down awarded after a touchdown. It begins when the referee sounds the ready-for-play whistle, and the game clock does not run. That matters because a team can score on the down even if the touchdown that created it came with 0:00 showing at the end of a period. Whether the Try must be played at the end of a game depends on whether its result can affect the outcome.

Either team can score during a live Try. A successful offensive kick is worth one point. A Try touchdown by either team is worth two points. A safety during the Try is worth one point to the opponent of the team that committed the safety. If the play produces a touchback, the Try is unsuccessful and is not replayed merely because the ball reached the end zone.

For the broader question of when a score is complete, see Football Nation’s guide to when an NFL scoring play actually ends.

Why the one-point kick starts at the 15

The 15-yard line is the snap spot for a conventional one-point attempt. The kicker does not kick the ball from the 15. The holder normally sets up behind the line of scrimmage, and the uprights are on the end line at the back of the end zone, so the football must travel considerably farther than the yard-line number alone suggests.

The play still follows the basic rules for a scrimmage kick. The offense snaps the ball, a holder controls it, and the kicker must send it between the uprights and over the crossbar. A manufactured tee is not permitted on a Try kick. Football Nation’s explainer on when a scrimmage kick is legal covers the larger kick framework.

Navy kicker Geoff Blumenfeld attempts an extra point during the 105th Army-Navy game on December 4, 2004. U.S. Navy photo by Damon J. Moritz; public domain via Wikimedia Commons.

Why a two-point play starts at the 2

A run or pass Try starts at the defending team’s 2-yard line. The offense has only a short distance to cross the goal line, but the compressed field changes the geometry. Safeties can play closer to the line, throwing windows close faster, and an edge defender needs less time to reach the quarterback.

Because the down is untimed, the offense is not racing the clock. Its job is simply to produce a touchdown on that one play. The defense can score too: if it gains possession and returns the ball to the opposite goal line, that Try touchdown is worth two points.

The official NFL clip below shows a two-point attempt ending incomplete. It is a useful reminder that the conversion is its own scrimmage down: once the pass is incomplete and the ball is dead, the Try is over unless a penalty requires another down.

The offense can choose the horizontal spot

The rule does not force the ball onto a particular hash mark. Before the Try, the offense may place it anywhere between the inbound lines. That choice can change a kicker’s angle, widen or shorten the field available for a route concept, and influence where the defense must declare its strength.

A right-footed kicker may have a preferred location, while a two-point package may benefit from additional space to one side for a sprint-out, bunch release or option route. The yard line remains the 15 for the kick choice or the 2 for a run or pass; only the lateral position changes.

When can the offense change its choice?

Before the ready-for-play signal, the offense can communicate its intended choice and position. After the ball is ready, Rule 11 limits a change. The offense may switch between the kick spot and the run-or-pass spot only after an accepted penalty or a charged timeout by either team.

That limitation prevents an offense from lining up at one spot, reading the defense, substituting freely and then relocating the ball without consequence. A timeout costs a team one of its allotted stoppages. A penalty can change the enforcement spot and also opens the door for a new Try choice, subject to the penalty rules.

Two realistic examples

Example 1: a penalty changes the decision. The offense declares a one-point kick and the ball is ready at the 15. Before the snap, the defense commits an accepted dead-ball foul. Because there has been a penalty, the offense may reconsider its choice. It can keep the kick or elect a two-point run or pass, with the accepted penalty enforced under the Try rules.

Example 2: a timeout buys a new choice. The offense initially places the ball at the 2 for a two-point play. After seeing the defensive personnel and alignment, it takes a charged timeout. That timeout permits the offense to change its choice and return with the kicking unit for a one-point attempt from the kick spot.

The most common misunderstanding

Saying an NFL extra point is “from the 15” can sound as if the kicker’s foot meets the ball on the 15-yard line. It does not. The 15 is the line where the ball is snapped. The holder is behind that line, and the goalposts stand on the end line. Likewise, “two points from the 2” means the play starts with a snap at the 2; the offense still must break the plane of the goal line with possession or complete a catch in the end zone.

Another misconception is that a team can move the ball from the 2 to the 15 whenever it dislikes the defense’s look. Once the ready signal has been given, a penalty or charged timeout is required for that switch.

What fans should watch for

First, watch which personnel group enters after the touchdown. A conventional kicking unit points toward one point, while the normal offense or a specialty goal-line package signals two. Second, watch where the official spots the ball laterally; that detail can reveal the preferred kicking angle or the open side of a two-point concept.

Third, pay attention after flags and timeouts. The broadcast may focus on yardage, but the more important strategic consequence can be a newly available choice between one and two points. Also note whether a stadium distraction affected a kick: the league has addressed video-board conduct around field goals, a subject covered in Football Nation’s report on the NFL’s field-goal video-board rule.

A Try kick is a scrimmage play, not a free kick. For the rare situation in which a team may instead kick directly after a fair catch, see Football Nation’s guide to when an NFL team can attempt a fair-catch kick.

Football Nation conclusion

The clean way to read an NFL Try is to separate the choice from the kick itself. One point means a snap from the defense’s 15; a run or pass for two means a snap from the 2. The offense may choose any horizontal position between the inbound lines, the game clock stays stopped, and a post-ready change requires a penalty or charged timeout. Those four details explain nearly every pre-snap question viewers see after a touchdown.