Justin Tucker proves John Harbaugh — and himself — right with clutch kick
CINCINNATI — There was a hard left-to-right crosswind blowing through Paycor Stadium. The turf beneath Justin Tucker's feet was brand new. And he was staring down a 56-yard field goal — in a game-tying situation against the Cincinnati Bengals with 1 minute, 40 seconds to go.
"I think it's one of those things, [...] you have no choice but to make sure everything is as technically sound as it can be on that particular kick," Tucker said.
And it was. From Nick Moore's snap to Jordan Stout's catch and place to Tucker's kick flying through the uprights, everything went as smoothly as it could have. The Ravens forced overtime, and they ultimately won by another Tucker field goal. For that, Tucker thanks those around him.
"I feel like a system kicker," Tucker said. "When every part of the system is working the way that it did on both of the kicks that we had today, good things will happen. We score."
Except, recently, that hasn't been the case. Despite saying Moore, Stout and the protection unit have been doing their jobs the whole season, Tucker has missed two field goals from 50-plus yards and one from 46.
That's because the problem was with him, he said Sept. 25, three days after he missed his third field goal of the season.
With Tucker in his 13th season at 34 years old, it is natural to wonder if he is losing his pop. Tucker assured reporters his leg strength remains as steady as ever. A 68-yard field goal during training camp backed that up. Instead, he and coach John Harbaugh said he was working through a technique issue.
When asked when he felt as though he pinpointed and corrected the issue, Tucker responded: "It wasn't necessarily every single kick I was making a technical error. It was, I'd have five, 10, 20 good kicks in a row, and then one of them I would just let get away from me. I wouldn't be as technically sound. It's not necessarily a discipline thing; it's not necessarily a physical thing. It's just sometimes it's a feel thing."
Tucker said that his teammates' unwavering faith helped him work through it until the breakthrough Sunday. Since the beginning of last season, Tucker had made one of seven attempts from 50-plus yards. Tucker is now 7-for-10 on field goals this season, bumping his percentage from 62.5% to 70%.
"I'm sure for him it gives him a bunch of confidence, just reaffirming who he is," left tackle Ronnie Stanley said. "I never lost any confidence or faith in Tuck. I just have full faith. I know the kicker he is. I know the player he is. He's fully capable. He's not getting old, nothing about it. Whatever was stopping him was himself."
Harbaugh pointed out after the game how hard the kick Tucker made was — the Bengals missed almost the same kick less than 30 minutes later.
After the game, Tucker was in the locker room holding the ball he kicked to tie the game. He said the ball will be painted and join his collection in his basement.
