The Raiders won their opener last night, for the first time in eight years. The top play of the game against the Denver Broncos had to be this record-tying field goal... 63 yards by Sebastian Janikowski.
Janikowski now shares the record with New Orleans' Tom Dempsey (1970) and Denver's Jason Elam (1998).
There were also some pretty impressive kick offs and punts in the game. In passing the announcers mentioned the kickers got a boost from the mile high air in Denver where they were playing.
Not to diminish anything from the accomplishment (hey, Janikowski made a 70 foot field goal in practice before the game), but I had to look into that. There is quite a bit about how baseballs fly farther in Denver. And this post about the effect of altitude on football:
In the sports of both American football and rugby, a ball can be kicked further in thinner high altitudes than at sea level. American football coaches and their specialist field goal kickers will be inclined to attempt field goals five to seven yards further from the goal in a high altitude venue for this reason.
For baseballs, researchers say the balls will fly an extra 3-7 percent.