Ravens' John Harbaugh: Justin Tucker Dealing with 'Technique Issue' amid 3 Missed FGs
September 23, 2024
There was a time when Justin Tucker making field goals was about the most automatic thing in football, but that hasn't been the case in 2024.
Baltimore Ravens head coach John Harbaugh doesn't seem particularly worried.
"He's everything that you want in a player and friend," Harbaugh told reporters Monday. "It's just a technique issue he's working through right now. He's got a technique thing going on. He'll work through it. He knows exactly what it is and just needs to smooth it back out. I'm very confident that he will."
Tucker is 5-of-8 on field goals this season, which is a 62.5 percent conversion rate and well below his career mark of 89.7 percent.
The biggest concern is from distance, as he was just 1-of-5 on attempts from at least 50 yards last season and is 0-for-2 in the same category in 2024. Perhaps age is becoming something of a concern, as he is set to turn 35 years old in November and has been kicking in the league since 2012.
Still, Tucker is arguably the best kicker in NFL history.
His resume includes a Super Bowl title, five First-Team All-Pro selections, seven Pro Bowl nods, three different seasons when he led the league in made field goals and six different seasons when he connected on better than 90 percent of his field goals, including in 2021 when he led the league at 94.6 percent and also drilled an NFL-record 66-yarder.
If anyone is capable of working through the technique issue that has hampered his game of late, it is Tucker.
And he will have a chance to prove it won't be a concern moving forward when the Ravens host the Buffalo Bills in a high-profile clash between presumed AFC contenders on Sunday.
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