BALTIMORE — Justin Tucker’s game-winning kick as time expired on Sunday night did several things besides seal a 19-17 win over the Cincinnati Bengals.
For one, it put the Ravens on top of the AFC North with a record of 3-2. It also cemented the first home win of 2022, and first in six games dating back to last season.
Most aesthetically pleasing of all, the ball sailed through the uprights at nearly the midpoint of the end line, meaning the kick was practically right down the middle.
Per Michael Lopez, a senior director of football data and analytics for the NFL, Tucker’s kick went over the crossbar 26.52 yards from the sideline, or 79.56 feet.
A regulation NFL football field is 160 feet wide, or 53.33 yards, placing the exact midpoint at 26.67 yards.
“That is, if the uprights were half a yard wide, the kick would have still been good,” Lopez tweeted.
For the record, the crossbar is 18 feet 6 inches, or 6.17 yards, long, and 10 feet off the ground, with the uprights extending 30 feet above the crossbar.
Lopez shared a study from two years ago showing Tucker’s accuracy was so precise in 2020 that he led the league in kicks near the middle of the uprights.