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Baltimore Ravens kicker Justin Tucker is experiencing the worst season of his 13-year career. Through 11 games, he’s connected on a career-low 72.7% of his attempts after previously hitting at least 82% of his tries each year prior.
He missed two of three kicks in his most recent outing, which proved costly for the Ravens against a division rival. Baltimore fell 18-16 to the Steelers, letting an opportunity to take over sole possession of first place in the AFC North slip through their grasps.
Tucker did make a 54-yarder in the second half to pull his team within two points of Pittsburgh. Unfortunately, he missed two other kicks to finish the day 1-for-3. It was the first time this year he’s missed multiple attempts in the same game, and it couldn’t have come at a worse time.
Baltimore is competing for a playoff spot, as are the Steelers. Pittsburgh entered with a half-game lead in the standings at 7-2. The Ravens were 7-3. The winner would grab the rights to first place.
The final result would go the way of the home team, with that divisional lead now growing to 1.5 games. Justin Tucker spoke on his struggles after the fact. He was specifically asked if the opposing venue’s field conditions contributed to his misfires.
“I wouldn’t say the surface was an issue, but it wasn’t ideal,” he said in a postgame interview. “That’s something that we make it a point to account by going out there in pregame warmups and getting our feet under us… We’ve dealt with that plenty of times here, elsewhere, at home.
“Throughout the course of the game, most of the action takes place in between the hashes. It naturally just gets chewed up.”
For his part, Justin Tucker said the field surface at Acrisure wasn’t an issue on his misses “but it wasn’t ideal” a day after Pitt-Clemson in the same stadium. pic.twitter.com/iDOZj8BdyJ
— Brian Batko (@BrianBatko) November 17, 2024
Tucker probably has a point as the University of Pittsburgh hosted Clemson in college football action the day prior. The field probably wasn’t in ideal condition. It didn’t, however, affect the kicker on the Steelers’ sideline!
Chris Boswell made each of his six attempts, including one from 57 yards out. He accounted for all 18 of his team’s points. Despite besting his counterpart throughout the game, he refused to doubt Tucker’s greatness.
“That dude’s a legend,” Boswell said of Tucker. “He’s a Hall of Famer, and next thing you know, he’ll go on another 100 field goal streak and everyone will forget about this.”
Steelers kicker Chris Boswell was not about to take the 👑 from Justin Tucker. “No, not even close. He’s a legend.” pic.twitter.com/aIcRYIQY8K
— Brian Batko (@BrianBatko) November 17, 2024
One interesting note following Tucker’s performance is that he’s no longer ranked as the most accurate kicker in NFL history. Entering the contest, he was 410-of-458. He’s now 411-of-460 (89.348%). Eddy Pineiro is the new leader at 89.381% on 101-of-113 kicking.
Justin Tucker and the Ravens will look to get back on track next week. Baltimore plays the Chargers on Monday night in Los Angeles.