Justin Tucker’s confidence remains unwavering after costly misses in Pittsburgh

The future Hall of Fame specialist still believes he can “nail every single kick.”

The Baltimore Ravens and All Pro kicker Justin Tucker has been in uncharted territory for most of the 2024 season as it pertains to his propensity to miss attempts from medium to long range that he used to make look mundane.

On Sunday in Pittsburgh against the rival Steelers, they ventured deeper into the murky waters of inconsistency. Tucker missed a pair of field goals on back-to-back drives in the first quarter that proved costly in an 18-16 loss.

“It’s certainly frustrating, especially when we know that these [Ravens-Steelers] games come down to the wire, like this one did today, that I let a couple get away,” Tucker said postgame.

What made his confounding miscues feel and look even worse was the fact that Steelers’ Pro Bowl kicker Chris Boswell accounted for all of his team’s points after nailing all six of his attempts to propel them to victory. He drilled half of them from 50-plus yards out including a long of 57 whereas both of Tucker’s misses came from 50 and 47 yards.

“‘Tuck’ needs to make kicks. He knows that; that’s important,” Head Coach John Harbaugh said. “He makes them in practice, and he made the long one later, which was good to see – which means he’s still very capable. Kick them straight, [and] we’ll be good.”

Despite his early struggles, the Ravens still decided to trot Tucker out to attempt a 54-yarder in the third quarter and blasted it right through the uprights after making an adjustment to his approach to the kick.

“[On the first one] – when it came off my foot, I thought it was going to stay on the line in the left 30 uprights, and it just took a left, and then the 50-yarder from the right hash – I felt like I started the ball pretty much center of the uprights, and then it just took a left,” Tucker said. “I made an adjustment in the remaining opportunities that we had in the game, and I made it a point to aim further out to the right side of the center of the uprights.”

With his latest misses, Tucker’s total number of unsuccessful field goal attempts is up to seven, which ties his single-season career-high he set in 2015. He is now 16-of-22 on the season, with a career-low 71.4 field-goal percentage and all of his misses—including an extra point attempt in Week 10—have gone wide left.

“Compartmentalizing what happened on one kick that didn’t go through and putting it away so you can go and make the most for your next opportunity, that’s a challenge, and that’s not necessarily an easy thing to do,” Tucker said.

Even after nailing so many big kicks over the course of his illustrious career, the kicks that wake him in the middle of the night that he remembers the most are the crucial misses.

“I still remember misses that I had 12 years ago,” Tucker said. “But that’s just the nature of playing this position. You have to treat each one like its own kick.”

Tucker is far from the only kicker in the league or even the division who is struggling to consistently make attempts from similar ranges. On Sunday Night Football, Evan McPherson of the Cincinnati Bengals missed a pair of field goals as well, one from 48 yards and the other from 51.

Other renowned Pro Bowlers from across the league have had their issues as well, including Atlanta Falcons’ Younghoe Koo (19/26) and New York Jets’ Greg Zuerlein (9/15), before landing an injured reserve.

Unlike some of the other kickers experiencing similar struggles, none of them are arguably Hall of Famers who have been the shining gold standard at the position like Tucker. His fall from grace and automatic status has been much steeper and more stunning than anyone could’ve imagined. Sunday’s misses prompted FTN Fantasy analytics expert Aaron Schatz to go as far as to compare Tucker’s 2024 campaign to Peyton Manning’s final year in the league when he was carried to his second career Super Bowl title by a stellar unit in of the other two phases.

While many pundits and a growing sect of the Ravens fan base have understandably and rightfully lost faith that Tucker will return to form, his belief in himself hasn’t wavered at all.

“I’m still confident I’m going to go out there and nail every single kick,” Tucker said. “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.”