National Football League

What can the Ravens do about kicker Justin Tucker's continued struggles?

Published Dec. 2, 2024 12:58 p.m. ET

What do you do when an all-time great is suddenly one of the league's worst at his position?

That's the conundrum facing the Baltimore Ravens, who have a legend in kicker Justin Tucker, but also someone who has missed an NFL-worst 10 kicks this season, including three in Baltimore's 24-19 loss to the Eagles on Sunday. Two weeks earlier, he missed two field goals in a two-point loss to the Steelers.

Tucker, 35, has the distinction of being the second-most accurate field-goal kicker in NFL history (89%) and also the second-least accurate kicker in the league this season (70%).

Instead of challenging for the AFC's top seed, the Ravens are now 8-5 and currently the sixth seed in the playoffs. Close losses with missed kicks have coach John Harbaugh facing difficult questions about a fan favorite.

"We've been working through it. You work through it with every single player," Harbaugh said after Sunday's loss. "Every single thing you fight to try to help guys to be successful. We'll do that. If you're asking me, ‘Are we going to move on from Justin Tucker?' I'm not really planning on doing that right now. I don't think that'd be wise. But he'll tell you, he'll be the first to tell you he needs to make kicks, because he can. I just think if you look at Justin Tucker's history, you'd have to say he's capable of doing that."

Tucker has made the Pro Bowl the past five years, and just two seasons ago, he led the NFL in field goals. But he's seen a steady decline, going 1-for-5 on field goals of 50 yards and longer last season, and this year has been markedly worse. He has missed eight field goals, matching his career high, and also two extra points, as many as he'd missed in the previous three years combined.

"As simply as I can put it, I missed the kicks, and I'll leave it at that," Tucker said after Sunday's loss. "I just left the points out there. I feel like I cost us this one, but it doesn't really do anybody any good to dwell on it. The only thing that we can do — that I can do — is just continue to work, move forward, take it one kick at a time. I hate that I've had to have this same conversation over the course of this season, but that's something that comes with the territory in this job description. The kicks are either good or they're not, and today, I did not do a good enough job to help our team win the football game."

His continued struggles leave the Ravens pondering their unpleasant options. They reached the AFC Championship Game last season and had even higher hopes for 2024, but Tucker is actively limiting that success. They could cite an injury and put him on injured reserve. That's what the Jets did with veteran Greg Zuerlein, the only kicker in the league with a lower success rate on field goals.

They could sign a kicker to the practice squad. That way, the newcomer could get accustomed to Baltimore's snapper and holder in practice, easing the transition if the Ravens wanted to make Tucker inactive in a future game. That would allow them to bench Tucker without cutting him outright, at minimal expense to the roster. He doesn't have any guaranteed money left on his contract, but releasing him would result in $7 million in dead money counting against Baltimore's 2025 salary cap.

Nobody is a harsher critic of Tucker than he is himself, and he's been frank in saying how hard his struggles have been, especially when they contribute directly to a close Ravens loss.

"Obviously, right now, just immediately after the game, it's pretty raw, emotionally, for me," he said. "Anytime we win, we come in the locker room, and we all feel great. And then anytime we lose — especially, for me, given my performance today, it was just not up to our standard — it's crushing. But at the end of the day, my feelings don't really matter. What matters is getting back to work and doing everything that I can to help this football team win games down the stretch."

Tucker isn't the first elite kicker to struggle at the end of his career. Adam Vinatieri, the NFL's career leader in field goals, hit just 68% his final year, missing seven at age 47 with the Colts in 2019. Jason Elam hit 63% in his last year, missing seven at age 39 with the Falcons in 2009. It's not a new thing: Jan Stenerud, now in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, hit 57% his last year, missing 11 field goals at age 43 with the Vikings in 1985.

The Ravens are on their bye week now, and they return with a fairly easy game in Week 15 against the Giants, but two of their last three games are against fellow AFC playoff contenders in the Steelers and Texans, games that could easily come down to a made or missed kick. If the season ended today, the Ravens would open the playoffs in Pittsburgh, where Tucker missed two field goals in an 18-16 loss in Week 11. In that game, Steelers kicker Chris Boswell went 6-for-6.

Much like Harbaugh, Baltimore's veterans have voiced their support for Tucker, knowing who he's been for the franchise and who he can still be moving forward. Tight end Mark Andrews said as much after Sunday's loss when asked if he'd said anything directly to Tucker.

"He knows. But just stay true to yourself and keep on going, and don't let anything faze you, don't let anybody faze you, and just know that in this locker room, this team, this organization, we all have each other's back, and we're all here for a reason," Andrews said. "He is about the most pro vet that you can get, so for us, just having his back.

"He's going to get it down. Just believe."

Greg Auman is an NFL Reporter for FOX Sports. He previously spent a decade covering the Buccaneers for the Tampa Bay Times and The Athletic. You can follow him on Twitter at @gregauman.

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