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What do you do when an all-time great is suddenly one of the league’s worst at his position?
That’s the conundrum facing the Baltimore Ravens, who have a legend in kicker Justin Tucker, but also someone who has missed an NFL-worst 10 kicks this season, including three in Baltimore’s 24-19 loss to the Eagles on Sunday. Two weeks earlier, he missed two field goals in a two-point loss to the Steelers.
Tucker, 35, has the distinction of being the second-most accurate field-goal kicker in NFL history (89%) and also the second-least accurate kicker in the league this season (70%).
Instead of challenging for the AFC’s top seed, the Ravens are now 8-5 and currently the sixth seed in the playoffs. Close losses with missed kicks have coach John Harbaugh facing difficult questions about a fan favorite.
“We’ve been working through it. You work through it with every single player,” Harbaugh said after Sunday’s loss. “Every single thing you fight to try to help guys to be successful. We’ll do that. If you’re asking me, ‘Are we going to move on from Justin Tucker?’ I’m not really planning on doing that right now. I don’t think that’d be wise. But he’ll tell you, he’ll be the first to tell you he needs to make kicks, because he can. I just think if you look at Justin Tucker’s history, you’d have to say he’s capable of doing that.”
Tucker has made the Pro Bowl the past five years, and just two seasons ago, he led the NFL in field goals. But he’s seen a steady decline, going 1-for-5 on field goals of 50 yards and longer last season, and this year has been markedly worse. He has missed eight field goals, matching his career high, and also two extra points, as many as he’d missed in the previous three years combined.
“As simply as I can put it, I missed the kicks, and I’ll leave it at that,” Tucker said after Sunday’s loss. “I just left the points out there. I feel like I cost us this one, but it doesn’t really do anybody any good to dwell on it. The only thing that we can do…
Source link : https://www.foxsports.com/stories/nfl/what-can-ravens-do-about-justin-tuckers-continued-struggles
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Publish date : 2024-12-02 17:58:00
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