OWINGS MILLS, Md. — For a dozen seasons, Justin Tucker raised the bar for NFL kickers, whether it was accuracy, long-distance field goals or clutch kicks. Now, he’s struggling to meet the high standards that he established.
Tucker’s two missed field goals weighed heavily in the Baltimore Ravens‘ 18-16 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday, which extended one of the worst slumps of his career and dropped him from being the most accurate kicker in NFL history.
On Monday, Ravens coach John Harbaugh said there are no plans to bring in competition for Tucker.
“The best option right now is to get Justin back on point because he is fully capable of doing it,” Harbaugh said. “We certainly haven’t lost any confidence in Justin Tucker.”
Tucker, a seven-time Pro Bowl kicker, missed from 47 and 50 yards on Sunday before hitting a 54-yard field goal. His conversion rate for this season has fallen to 72.7%, which is his lowest ever 11 games into a season.
His six misses are one more than he totaled all last season, and he is one shy of tying his career worst. He failed on seven attempts in 2015, when he was 33-of-40.
“He’s going to get it figured out,” Harbaugh said. “We have coaches, we have technique. We look at the tape and he’s practicing well. He’s got to kick it straight.”
Tucker has missed five field goals in Baltimore’s four losses this season. He didn’t convert a 56-yard field goal in a three-point loss to the Las Vegas Raiders (26-23) in Week 2, and he then failed on two attempts in a two-point loss to the Steelers on Sunday.
On Sunday, Tucker missed multiple kicks for just the sixth time in 206 career games, which put him in an unfamiliar place. For one of the rare times over the last eight years, Tucker is not the most accurate among kickers with at least 100 attempts. His career success rate of 89.3% (411-of-460) ranks behind the Carolina Panthers’ Eddy Pineiro’s 89.4% (101-of-113).
“I’m still confident I’m going to go out there and nail every single kick,” Tucker said after Sunday’s game. “Part of the way we stay confident is by continuing to work and trust the process. I might sound like a broken record, but it’s a part of what brings us success — is just trusting the process and then taking it one kick at a time.”
Tucker turns 35 on Thursday, but the Ravens don’t believe age is an issue. None of Tucker’s misses — from 53, 56, 46, 50, 47 and 50 yards — have come up short. All have been wide left.
Tucker’s drop in consistency has coincided with a change in holders. When punter Sam Koch was Tucker’s holder from 2012 to 2022, Tucker made 90.5% of his field goals (363-of-401). Former Baltimore special teams coordinator Jerry Rosburg called Koch “the best holder in the history of football.”
Koch retired after the Ravens drafted punter Jordan Stout in the fourth round of the 2023 draft and is currently the assistant special teams coach. With Stout as the holder the past two seasons, Tucker has converted 81.4% of his attempts (48-of-59).
Harbaugh said Monday that the hold and the mechanics of setting up the kick have “not specifically” impacted the misses.
“They work together,” Harbaugh said. “I think when things go well, Justin credits those guys really well. I think they all take responsibility for every good thing and for everything that doesn’t go well.”
Tucker still holds the record for the longest field goal in NFL history, when he kicked a 66-yarder to win a game in Detroit three years ago. He’s also 28-of-31 in the final two minutes of regulation and a perfect 6-for-6 in overtime.
After Sunday’s game, Steelers kicker Chris Boswell referred to Tucker as “a legend” and “a future Hall of Famer.”
