Tag: Justin Tucker

Ravens CB Marlon Humphrey weighs in on Justin Tucker’s struggles

Ravens cornerback Marlon Humphrey weighed in on the struggles of kicker Justin Tucker

The Baltimore Ravens are 8-5 as they enter their bye week in Week 14. The five losses already represent one more than the team had all of 2023, and with four games still remaining on their docket, they will need to find answers to plenty of their problems sooner rather than later, as time is running out.

One of the things that will hopefully be ironed out by the time Baltimore plays its next game is kicker Justin Tucker’s struggles. Cornerback Marlon Humphrey was asked about Tucker, and he said that what the veteran is going through is typical for kickers, but Tucker’s greatness has so blessed the team that it can be taken for granted.

“I said this on the sideline: ‘I think [Justin Tucker] is … I said this to some of the guys earlier; I said, ‘I think this is normal for kickers, but we’ve just been so blessed by Tucker’s eliteness that we kind of take it for granted. We used to sit down there on the [sidelines], and when he goes up there, you know it’s going in. But I think great players, they get out of those slumps at the right moment, and I think Tucker is one of those guys. There’s not much I know about kicking, but I do know Tucker is a guy to get things turned around.”

Tucker is having a career-worst year for the Ravens in 2024, losing the team multiple games with his missed kicks. He has the talent to turn things around, but his decline has happened over the past two seasons, sparking plenty of cause for concern.

Legendary coach reveals how he’d handle Justin Tucker’s struggles

A legendary NFL head coach revealed a plan for Ravens kicker Justin Tucker

The Baltimore Ravens have seen kicker Justin Tucker fall off considerably over the last year and a half. His 2023 season was filled with missed kicks from 50+ yards, while 2024 has been even more of a disaster for the future Hall-of-Fame kicker.

There are massive questions about what Baltimore should do with Tucker amidst his struggles, from bringing in competition to letting him ride it out. A legendary head coach, Bill Belichick, gave his opinion on the matter, saying that while Tucker still has the leg and talent, something is going on with him technique-wise, and he could be in his head.

Belichick also mentions that he would stick it out with Justin Tucker rather than find another option without the leg or resumé that Tucker has. At this point in the season, the Ravens have limited options for fixing Tucker’s struggles. It will likely be up to Tucker himself to get himself right.

Ravens kicker Justin Tucker cannot be justified at this point

After years of perfection, Baltimore Ravens K Justin Tucker has finally shown himself fallible and potentially expendable in 2024.

In year 13, Baltimore Ravens kicker Justin Tucker has become just a shadow of what he once was for his beloved franchise. A missed extra point and two pivotal missed field goals were huge mistakes in Sunday’s 24-19 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles.

Head coach John Harbaugh hasn’t indicated that he is going to bench Tucker, but acquiring a new kicker needs to be a priority for the Ravens during the bye week. Tucker’s seven-point lapse would have single-handedly covered the difference versus the Eagles and might’ve greatly impacted defensive coordinator Zach Orr’s strategy.

When the Ravens return to face the New York Giants on Dec. 15, Tucker will likely still be the starter on the team’s depth chart. Harbaugh’s faithfulness may be to a fault, and if Tucker continues to jeopardize the team, Ravens’ fans may lose their jolly spirit this holiday season.

John Harbaugh dismisses idea of replacing kicker Justin Tucker

placekicker Justin Tucker has already set a career high that he would rather not have.

Through the first 13 games of the season, Baltimore Ravens placekicker Justin Tucker has already set a career-high that he would rather not have.

Tucker missed three kicks (two field goal attempts, one extra point) in the 24-19 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles today, giving him ten errant kicks (two extra points, eight field goals) on the season.

His ten missed kicks lead the NFL, making the man who entered this season by many measures the greatest placekicker of all time now the league’s most inaccurate.

An uncharacteristically lousy season like this has led to a backlash among Ravens fans and speculation that he could be replaced as the Ravens’ PK.

“I don’t plan on doing that right now,” Ravens head coach John Harbaugh told the media after today’s game.

“I don’t think it’d be wise.”

According to a post on X by the 33rd Team, 602 Kickers have attempted 25+ field goals in a season since 2000.

Tucker would rank 576th at 70.4% when you rank all seasons by field goal percentage accuracy.

While those numbers are brutally awful, there is no denying that fact. If anyone deserves the benefit of the doubt, it’s Tucker. Given his storied career and legendary track record, he should be given the chance to straighten it out.

Ravens kicker Justin Tucker takes blame for 24-19 loss to Eagles

Justin Tucker entered this year with the highest career FG% in NFL history but today saw him miss more than 1kick in a game for the 1st time

From G.O.A.T. to scapegoat, literally.

Baltimore Ravens placekicker Justin Tucker went into this season with the highest career field goal percentage in NFL history, but today, he missed more than one kick in a single game for the first time ever.

He missed three (two field goal attempts and one extra point), and if you’re scoring at home (I hope, for your sake that you have better things to do at home than score the text of Ravens Wire articles), that’s a total of seven points he single-handedly left out on the field.

The margin of defeat to the Philadelphia Eagles today was just five (24-19), prompting Tucker to say this to the reporters afterward:

“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 I do, that I can do is continue to work, move forward, take one kick at a time.”

“I hate to say that I have I had to have this same conversation, over the course of the season, but that comes with the job description, the kicks are either good or they’re not and today I did not do enough of a good job to help our team win the football game.”

Taking stock of oneself and thus taking full accountability is a lost art these days. You may be highly frustrated and perhaps even angry by how Tucker performed on Sunday, but you must give him credit for stepping up and accepting the blame.

Many people who have spent most of their careers being branded the best at what they do would not take the road that Tucker did here.

Why Travis Kelce is getting blamed for stealing Justin Tucker’s mojo

Is Travis Kelce to blame here?

Justin Tucker has been superhuman as a kicker for the Baltimore Ravens for years, hitting field goals from all kinds of distances and in clutch situations.

But let’s go back to that moment before the Kansas City Chiefs’ eventual win over the Ravens in the AFC title game earlier this year. Travis Kelce — and Patrick Mahomes too — tossed aside Tucker’s equipment because they accused Tucker of warming up where the Chiefs QBs were supposed to be getting ready.

What’s happened since then? Well, Tucker has struggled. A lot.

He’s missed three field goals between 40 and 49 yards, and missed five from 50-plus. He’s at 70.4 percent this year in field goal percentage, which is AWFUL.

And everyone thinks Kelce stole his mojo:

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13 years ago today, Justin Tucker ends Texas-Texas A&M Rivalry, temporarily

On this day in history, Justin Tucker sealed the deal for the Texas Longhorns vs Texas A&M.

Thirteen years ago today, one of the most memorable moments in Texas Longhorns football history unfolded. On Nov. 24, 2011, Justin Tucker’s 40-yard field goal as time expired gave Texas a thrilling 27-25 victory over Texas A&M in College Station.

It was a fitting sendoff to one of college football’s most storied rivalries, as the Aggies’ move to the Southeastern Conference marked the end of the 118-game series—until now.

With the game on the line, quarterback Case McCoy orchestrated a clutch drive to set Tucker up for his iconic kick. “It just means more,” Tucker told the Austin American-Statesman in 2021. “To be able to put that game away in that moment and then celebrate with my teammates, it’s absolutely one of my favorite football memories.”

The rivalry’s hiatus spanned 12 seasons, but with Texas now in the SEC, the Longhorns and Aggies are set to renew hostilities this Saturday in College Station. The stakes couldn’t be higher. Currently ranked third and 15th in the College Football Playoff rankings, Texas (10-1, 6-1) and Texas A&M (8-3, 5-2) will be battling for a spot in the SEC championship game.

What started with Tucker’s game-winner has come full circle, reigniting the rivalry with new stakes and a new stage.

Danny Davis’s at the Austin American-Statesman originally reported this story.

Panthers K Eddy Piñeiro injured knee in one of the most silly, but understandable ways imaginable

Panthers K Eddy Piñeiro might’ve celebrated a bit too hard after nailing a game-winning field goal in Week 10.

Carolina Panthers kicker Eddy Piñeiro has had a lot to celebrate over the past few weeks. But he might have to make sure he doesn’t celebrate too hard from now on.

Piñeiro, unexpectedly, was listed as a limited participant at Thursday’s practice due to a left knee injury. He was then, in a worrisome development, put down as a non-participant for today’s session and deemed questionable for Sunday’s matchup with the Kansas City Chiefs.

Well, turns out Piñeiro actually injured his knee in one of the most silly (but very understandable) ways imaginable.

According to head coach Dave Canales, Piñeiro tweaked the knee while celebrating his walk-off field goal against the New York Giants in Week 10. His 36-yard field goal resulted in a 20-17 overtime triumph for the Panthers and this little party on the seemingly perilous pitch of Allianz Arena in Munich, Germany . . .

That kick also helped Piñeiro become the most accurate field goal kicker in league history. He entered the bye with a success rate of 89.381 percent, which would move past the mark of Baltimore’s Justin Tucker after Tucker missed a pair of tries in Week 11.

Luckily for the Panthers, Piñeiro is still expected to play this weekend.

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The Ravens are in a difficult spot with Justin Tucker

The Ravens are in a difficult spot with Justin Tucker

For potentially the first time, with arguably the greatest kicker in NFL history on their side, the Baltimore Ravens were at a massive disadvantage in a low-scoring affair decided by field goals against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Tucker missed two field goals, one from 47 yards and another from 50, in the Ravens’ 18-16 loss to the Steelers in Week 11, bringing his number of missed kicks this season to six with one missed extra point. On the other hand, Chris Boswell accounted for 18 of Pittsburgh’s points with six field goals. Tucker did make a 54-yard field goal in the game, but his two misses loomed large in a two-point loss that handed the Steelers sole possession of first place in the AFC North.

In a season with Super Bowl aspirations, led by the league’s best offense and a quarterback gunning for a third MVP trophy, it would be a shame for everything to come crumbling down at the foot of the previously always-reliable Tucker in January.

It is tough to say where Baltimore should go from here. On one hand, Tucker has missed crucial field goals in all four of the Ravens’ close losses this season. On the other hand, Tucker is the most excellent kicker of all time, with as much credit in the bank as one player could have. Cutting Tucker and bringing in another kicker from the street would be the worst way to end his legendary career in Baltimore, but not doing so runs the risk of potentially more costly misses leading to close losses.

The Ravens’ offense has been good enough to mask Tucker’s struggles, for the most part, this season, but as shown on Sunday when the unit could not get going, Tucker could not be counted on to bail them out as he has done countless times throughout his career.

Steelers kicker Chris Boswell on Justin Tucker: “he’s a legend”

Steelers placekicker Chris Boswell went a perfect 6/6 on his field goal attempts, and thus accounted for every point scored by the winners 

Murphy’s law is an epigram that usually states: “Anything that can go wrong will go wrong.”

For the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday, in their 18-16 loss at their arch-rivals, the Pittsburgh Steelers, things went wrong that nobody could have ever anticipated.

Justin Tucker, arguably the G.O.A.T. of placekickers, is missing not one but two field goals.

Derrick Henry, the king of all running backs, fumbling the ball away for the first time in two years.

Most believe Lamar Jackson has been the NFL MVP thus far this season, but he has completed less than half of his pass attempts.

And on the other sideline, the Steelers won with a dominant defense and elite special teams.

The main hero of this game?

Probably Steelers placekicker Chris Boswell, who went a perfect 6/6 on his field goal attempts and thus accounted for every point scored by the winning side.

Tucker has missed six field goal attempts in the season after missing only five last.

In his postgame media opportunity, Boswell made it clear that he doesn’t think Tucker is slipping at all.

Added Boswell: “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 and move past it.”

Boswell is right- while it was shocking to see, this was just a bad day at the office for Tucker.