Justin Tucker’s dramatic falloff begs the Ravens to make a tough decision before it’s too late
The Baltimore Ravens are officially at a crossroads. When the wins are consistent and mounting, it is easy to sweep some issues under the rug. After some disappointing finishes in recent weeks, the Ravens may be pushed to a decision nobody would have expected before the season. Justin Tucker has been a stalwart to their […]
The Baltimore Ravens are officially at a crossroads.
When the wins are consistent and mounting, it is easy to sweep some issues under the rug. After some disappointing finishes in recent weeks, the Ravens may be pushed to a decision nobody would have expected before the season.
Justin Tucker has been a stalwart to their team and one of the best kickers of this generation. He's set records. He's won them football games. Now, there is a lot of unknown regarding his performance.
Tucker's struggles
The Ravens boot missed two field goals and an extra point in their Week 13 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles. It was a game that the team probably felt they deserved to win by the final snap.
Tucker said that he felt he costed the team the game during his postgame media availability.
The Ravens' losses have been consistently narrow this season.
Doug Clawson pointed out an intriguing statistic for Baltimore this year. They've lost five games by a combined 22 points, and the missed kicks from Tucker have been worth 22 points.
All in all, having another kicking option would probably be smartest for Baltimore. Tucker is a franchise legend, but there is simply something going wrong right now.
Making a change seems more and more important as the weeks pass by and the playoffs get closer for the Ravens.
Harbaugh's response
The Ravens head coach says that they are not going to make a change right now. Words and actions can differ, though, so we will see if they bring in any competition at kicker this week.
"If you’re asking me are we going to move on from Justin Tucker, I’m not really planning on doing that right now." — Harbaugh
It would make plenty of sense to create more competition and see what happens. Tucker wants to see his team win, so if he must take a backseat, then that is part of the sport.
As of now, the Ravens are hoping he figures it all out, though. We will see how their decision changes if Tucker continues to struggle this season.
Chiefs’ Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce get into it with Ravens kicker Justin Tucker in pregame warmups
The Chiefs are standing on business.
