Tucker

[tsylvester]

The biggest shocker of the Ravens' season has been Justin Tucker's struggles.

The man who has long carried the GOAT torch has missed a field goal in each of the Ravens' first three games – the most misses in the NFL so far.

Tucker's first two misses came from beyond 50 yards, drawing scrutiny over his long-distance kicking dating back to last season, but Sunday's miscue in Dallas was from 46 yards.

All three were wide left. The miss in Dallas had a particularly dramatic hook after looking like it was heading straight at the start.

Head Coach John Harbaugh and Tucker had a talk on the field after the miss.

"I just love the guy and respect him. He's everything that you want in a player and friend," Harbaugh said.

"Beyond that, for Justin, it's just a technique issue right now that he's working through. I think he's got a technique thing going on. He can work through it. He knows exactly what it is, and he just needs to smooth it back out. I'm very confident that he will."

Tucker is 5-of-8 so far this season on his field goal attempts. His other misses were from 53 and 56 yards. Last year, he missed five all season and he's never missed more than seven in a year.

The man who has long carried the GOAT torch has missed a field goal in each of the Ravens' first three games – the most misses in the NFL so far.

Tucker's first two misses came from beyond 50 yards, drawing scrutiny over his long-distance kicking dating back to last season, but Sunday's miscue in Dallas was from 46 yards.

All three were wide left. The miss in Dallas had a particularly dramatic hook after looking like it was heading straight at the start.

Looking at his 46-yard miss in Dallas, it starts straight but there's a dramatic hook halfway through.

I'm no kicking expert so I have no idea why, but I'm sure the Ravens know. Confident he'llffix it.

Head Coach John Harbaugh and Tucker had a talk on the field after the miss.

"I just love the guy and respect him. He's everything that you want in a player and friend," Harbaugh said.

"Beyond that, for Justin, it's just a technique issue right now that he's working through. I think he's got a technique thing going on. He can work through it. He knows exactly what it is, and he just needs to smooth it back out. I'm very confident that he will."

Tucker is 5-of-8 so far this season on his field goal attempts. His other misses were from 53 and 56 yards. Last year, he missed five all season and he's never missed more than seven in a year.

Tucker has missed a kick in back-to-back games four times in his career (twice in 2015, 2022, and 2023). This is his first time missing a kick in three straight games.

Tucker still stands atop NFL history with a career field goal percentage of 89.6%. He's gone through some tough patches throughout his career and come out the other side.

"Justin knows that we support him. I try to make sure he knows that. That's part of it, relationship wise," Harbaugh said.

"The talent, the ability, all that stuff is there. That hasn't gone anywhere. We see it all the time. But it's a technique thing. I think we approach it from a technical standpoint. [Senior Special Teams Coach] Randy Brown does a great job coaching that part of it. Randy's the foremost guy in the business at that. They work on that every single day. For me, I just try to encourage what I see and understand the technique as well. Justin is a pro. I have great belief that he'll get the job done

https://www.baltimoreravens.com/news/justin-tucker-technical-issue-kicker-rebound-ravens

[oldno82]

The only thing that's different from when he was money on every attempt, is that our long time ST coach retired.

[tsylvester]

And the long snapper and the holder

[oldno82]

Ah! I stand corrected. I though Rossberg retired the season before last. Man, time does fly when you get old!

[tsylvester]

That it does my friend, that it does

[tsylvester]

56 yards, it hugged the left up right, but it was good. I hope that this took the proverbial monkey off of his back. To kick the short game winner I'm sure felt even better

[oldno82]

He's b-a-a-a-c-k!!!

[papasmurfbell]

I’d like to see him string some of these performances together.

[tsylvester]

5 hours ago, papasmurfbell said:

I’d like to see him string some of these performances together.

Me too but sometimes to get rid of the yipps, you just need to make one.

[tsylvester]

Tucker makes the 50 yarder, he has a 40 yarder to hit to win the game.

Yes, a lot of ifs and buts in the Cleveland game, a loss no matter what now.

Dead leg? As the announcer suspected, a long time successful kicker in the league.

Maybe he has to stop trying to kick 70 yarders in warm ups and practice. It used to be a fun way for him and the team to pass some time.

What ever the reason, like the defense, just as with the special teams tackling, fielding on side kicks, until they fix them, this team is 1 and done in the playoffs without a consistent Tucker, a viable defense, better coverage on special teams.

This is a true team game, 3 fazes.

[tsylvester]

I heard an interview with Stover on Tucker's struggles. He essentially said that it is normal when it comes to kicking, even he had his struggles over the course of his career. He does feel Justin will work things out, just as he did with the 56 yarder in the game after 2 misses.

Fun story time;

I used to work for Howard County parks & recs. During the off season, Stover, who lived near Centennial field in Howard County, I worked at the park down the road, would go out to Centennial to practice his kicks.

Now in the off season, the fields are closed to help the grass recover from the heavy use. Well, one Saturday, a worker there kicked him off the field. When Matt tried to explain, the guy didn't want to hear it. Oh not because he was on a power trip, rather, because he was a Redslurs fan   Matt did get to keep practicing there once cooler heads found out.

[papasmurfbell]

Somebody brought up this might coralate with cox and Koch.  His little team was broken up and it might be in his head.

[tsylvester]

Matt talked a little bit about the team, he looked over most every kick and said the snaps were "right on the spot" on those misses and the holds looked good.

Justin said on the one he made, they agreed to change his aiming point slightly right and boom, straight in.

So it appears it is either a mind issue with Tucker in game only, or perhaps the holder, Stout, is just tilting the ball slightly enough to cause the miss. Either way, we will never know.