LAS VEGAS -- Cam Little looked at his potential NFL record field goal logically.
He was playing indoors and on natural grass at Allegiant Stadium, meaning there were no extraneous factors that could affect his 68-yard attempt. All he needed to do, he thought, was hit it straight.
Which the Jaguars' second-year kicker did as the first half expired in their eventual 30-29 overtime victory over the Las Vegas Raiders. His kick easily cleared the crossbar and bounced off the wall beyond the end zone, giving him the longest field goal in NFL history by 2 yards.
"You kick it long enough and you kick it straight enough, it's going to go in," Little said. "Me and [holder] Logan [Cooke] kind of had a one-on-one right before the kick and I said, 'I'm going to hit this ball as hard as I can.' Usually when I tell myself that, I find success.
"So went out there and just let it loose. I think that's when I play my best."
Little's kick broke the previous mark of 66 yards, set by former Baltimore Ravens kicker Justin Tucker against the Detroit Lions on Sept. 26, 2021. Tucker's kick hit the crossbar at Ford Field and went over, lifting the Baltimore Ravens to a 19-16 win over the Detroit Lions. At that time, Tucker broke Matt Prater's NFL record by 2 yards (64 yards).
Per ESPN Research, there have now been seven field goals of at least 60 yards this season, which is already the most in a single season in NFL history. The previous record was five in 2022 and 2023.
Coach Liam Coen said there was no hesitation to let Little try the record kick. He had hit a 70-yarder in the preseason game against Pittsburgh with plenty of room to spare, and the Jaguars -- who earlier in the first half had failed to score inside the 5 when Trevor Lawrence threw an end zone interception -- needed some momentum.
"We made that decision very quickly," Coen said. "I looked at [special teams coordinator] Heath [Farwell]. Heath was like, 'Let's go.' I'm like, 'Let's go, man. What are we going to do? Throw a Hail Mary?' I mean, we've seen him do it before and we're indoors, we're in a great space for it, and he was hitting it pretty good in pregame.
"I ran right on the field as soon as he hit it and started running off the sideline, I ran right at him and it was like we won the Super Bowl, but it was what ignited us."
Little had missed three kicks in the Jaguars' previous two games -- two field goal attempts of 50-plus yards and a PAT -- yet Coen said the team hadn't lost any confidence in the second-year player out of Arkansas.
"Everybody's been trying to get us to lose confidence in him, and I know that for sure [that] we have never lost confidence in him," Coen said. "And he went on the bye, got away from it, and sets an NFL record on his first kick back."
Little's record illustrates the up-and-down nature of kickers in the NFL. Less than a minute before, Raiders kicker Daniel Carlson missed a PAT wide right.
"I feel for these guys in the locker room," Raiders coach Pete Carroll said. "Man, it pisses me off. The all-time longest field goal in the history of the game, and [we] missed an extra point."
Back in August after he hit the 70-yarder against the Steelers, Little said he expected that someone would break Tucker's record soon. On Sunday, he joked that his record will last only until next week.
"I harp on this all the time when someone asks about the [70-yarder], there's so many good kickers around this league," Little said. "There's so many guys that are very, very capable of hitting that kick and just all comes matter of when you get the opportunity seizing it. So I don't doubt that someone will probably break that record at some point."