when missing the kick will cause the kicker’s team to lose, professional kickers succeed on those shots only 62% of the time. When making the goal will result in a win, kickers go for it—and they find the net 92% of the time. It’s the same kick, the same twelve yards every time. The ball is still struck at 60 miles per hour and the goal is still a 72-square-foot target. But a 30% gap in the success rate results from the different psychological circumstances.

