Giants Kicker Dominic Zvada Tried Four 50-Yard Field Goals in a Game, Only the Second Since 1999
By nflverse's win-probability model, his 46-yard miss in overtime cut the Giants' chances of winning from 79.8% to 43.5%. The 57-yarder before halftime cost 4.6 percentage points.
Dominic Zvada attempted four field goals of 50 yards or longer in the Giants' 27-27 overtime tie at Washington on Oct. 11 and made two. One other kicker has tried four in a game since 1999, the first season in nflverse's play-by-play data: Indianapolis' Matt Gay, who made all four in a 22-19 overtime win at Baltimore on Sept. 24, 2023.
The Giants' game report said Zvada is the only rookie since at least 1983 with four 50-yard attempts in one game, and Gay the only other player.
Zvada, an undrafted rookie, went 2 of 5 on Sunday. He made kicks of 51 and 56 yards. He missed from 50 and 57 in the first half and from 46 on the Giants' first possession of overtime. He had made all nine of his attempts in the first four games.
The 46-yarder was the shortest of the five and the costliest. By nflverse's win-probability model, the miss dropped the Giants' chances of winning from 79.8% to 43.5%. The two first-half misses cost 5.3 and 4.6 percentage points.
Sunday's five kicks
| Time | Score | Down and spot | Kick (yards) | Result | Make chance (model) | Giants win prob. before | After | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st Q, 7:15 | 0-6 | Fourth-and-12, WAS 32 | 50 | Missed (wide right) | 69.5% | 31.3% | 26.1% | -5.3 |
| 1st Q, 1:00 | 0-6 | Fourth-and-8, WAS 33 | 51 | Made | 67.5% | 31.4% | 35.9% | +4.5 |
| 2nd Q, 0:07 | 3-12 | Fourth-and-10, WAS 39 | 57 | Missed (wide left) | 48.5% | 17.7% | 13.1% | -4.6 |
| 3rd Q, 10:58 | 3-12 | Fourth-and-2, WAS 37 | 56 | Made | 58.4% | 18.3% | 25.0% | +6.6 |
| OT, 8:01 | 27-27 | Fourth-and-8, WAS 28 | 46 | Missed (wide left) | 76.4% | 79.8% | 43.5% | -36.3 |
Zvada's first miss came on fourth-and-12 from the Washington 32 with 7:15 left in the first quarter and the Giants down 6-0. It went wide right. The nflverse field-goal model gave the 50-yarder a 69.5% chance. He made from 51 with a minute left in the quarter.
The 57-yard try came on fourth-and-10 from the Washington 39 with seven seconds left in the half and the Giants down 12-3. The Giants were out of timeouts, and Washington called one before the kick. The model put it at 48.5%, the lowest of his five. It went wide left. The Giants said a make would have tied the franchise record and that it was the longest attempt by a Giants rookie since Owen Pochman missed from 63 in 2001.
The 56-yarder, on fourth-and-2 early in the third quarter, tied Ali Haji-Sheikh's 1983 mark for the longest field goal by a Giants rookie, the Giants said.
In overtime the Giants received the kickoff and reached the Washington 28. After an incompletion, a Giants timeout and another incompletion, Zvada missed wide left from 46 with 8:01 left. The model had rated the kick 76.4%.
Across the five kicks, the model's make probabilities add up to 3.2 expected field goals. Zvada made two. On the four from 50-plus, the expected total was 2.4. The five kicks together moved the Giants' win probability down a net of about 35 percentage points.
After a Washington punt, the Giants reached first down at the Washington 24 with two minutes left before Washington's Daron Payne forced a fumble and the Commanders recovered. Giants coach John Harbaugh said at his postgame news conference the plan had been to run the clock down and kick so Washington would have no time to answer a miss. "That field goal's very makeable, but it's not a gimme," he said.
How 50-plus kicks go league-wide
| Distance | NFL 2022-25 | NFL 2026 | Zvada 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 50-54 yards | 470 of 637 (73.8%) | 33 of 50 (66.0%) | 4 of 5 |
| 55-59 yards | 194 of 303 (64.0%) | 28 of 36 (77.8%) | 1 of 2 |
| 60-plus yards | 26 of 59 (44.1%) | 3 of 7 (42.9%) | 0 of 0 |
| All 50-plus | 690 of 999 (69.1%) | 64 of 93 (68.8%) | 5 of 7 (71.4%) |
NFL kickers made 69.1% of their 50-yard-plus attempts in the 2022-25 regular seasons, 690 of 999. Through five weeks of 2026 the rate is 68.8%, 64 of 93. Kickers have made 77.8% from 55 to 59 yards this season, up from 64.0% over the previous four years, on a smaller sample.
Zvada is 5 of 7 from 50-plus this season. Before Sunday he had made a 52-yarder at the Los Angeles Rams in Week 2 and kicks of 50 and 52 yards against Arizona in Week 4. His 71.4% rate is above the league's, and his seven attempts are the most in the league, one more than Indianapolis' Spencer Shrader, who is 6 of 6.
His overall rate trails the league's. He is 11 of 14, or 78.6%, against a league rate of 84.8% this season. He is 0 of 1 from 40 to 49 yards. NFL kickers made 77 of 96 attempts from exactly 46 yards in 2022-25, or 80.2%.
In the 2022-25 regular seasons, a team tried three or more 50-yard field goals in a game 29 times out of 2,174 team games. Gay's game was the only one with four. This season, teams have tried three or more in a game three times, and only Sunday's game had four.
| Date | Kicker | Game | 50-plus | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sept. 24, 2023 | Matt Gay, Indianapolis | at Baltimore | 4 of 4 (54, 53, 53, 53) | Won 22-19 (OT) |
| Oct. 11, 2026 | Dominic Zvada, Giants | at Washington | 2 of 4 (50, 51, 57, 56) | Tied 27-27 (OT) |
Kicking against going for it
The Giants faced fourth-and-12 on the first miss and fourth-and-8 on the overtime miss. In the 2022-25 regular seasons, NFL teams that went for it on fourth-and-12 converted 8 of 25 times (32.0%), and 60 of 219 times (27.4%) from 10 to 14 yards. On fourth-and-8 they converted 22 of 81 times (27.2%). The nflverse model rated those two kicks at 69.5% and 76.4%. A conversion would usually have extended the drive rather than scored.
Weather
The NFL gamebook's weather line lists 64 degrees, 96% humidity and a northeast wind at 7 mph, with no description of conditions. The Giants' game report said rain was falling when Washington missed the game's first extra point. Gay's 4-for-4 game in 2023 is listed in nflverse's weather field as "steady rain."
What Harbaugh said
Asked after the game about his confidence in his kicker, Harbaugh said, "It's high," in his postgame news conference. "He'll learn from that."
He was not asked about the kicks in the team's video of his Monday news conference.
The Giants host the New Orleans Saints on Sunday, Oct. 18.