BALTIMORE — Football fields are 360 feet long and 160 feet wide, but when it comes to the goal posts, every inch counts.

Don Follett, the head groundskeeper for the Baltimore Ravens, knows this well. He was hunched over a square hole behind one end zone at M&T Bank Stadium on Wednesday, adjusting the bolts that secured the gooseneck of the goal post in the ground. The crossbar was about one inch too short, and Follett was tightening the bolts to raise its elevation to the mandated 10 feet.

Goal posts are essentially four metal tubes: two uprights, a crossbar and a gooseneck. But they must be finely tuned to align properly, especially in pro football stadiums, where they are removed frequently for other events.

This season, the calculus will be more complicated because the uprights in every N.F.L. stadium will extend five feet higher, or 35 feet above the crossbar.