“When he swings the way he’s supposed to – when he swings the way he’s capable of, the fundamentally correct way to do it as he does in practice 99 times out of 100 – he hits a straight ball, and he hits a really good ball,” said John Harbaugh about the recent struggles of his kicker, Justin Tucker.
Tucker, the NFL’s second-most accurate kicker of all time, has had his fair share of ups and downs this season, particularly his success rate kicking from 50 yards and beyond. What was once considered a strong point (16 Career 50-plus-yard FGs by on 27 attempts) of the opera singing, Dr. Pepper drinking Tucker, has been anything but in 2015.
Of his seven field goal attempts from 50 yards and beyond this season, Tucker has connected on just two. His success rate from inside of 50 yards however has been just short of perfection connecting on 20 of 21 attempts.
“When he doesn’t swing the right way for whatever reason … You’d have to ask him what happens. There’s a lot to it,” Harbaugh went on to add on Monday. “There’s the hold; there’s the snap; the whole thing goes together.
“There’s the wind. There’s the footing. All those things are a factor, no question, but the swing mechanics are the main thing, and it’s not hard to see when the swing mechanics aren’t what we would be looking for or what he would be looking for. To my eye, that’s what happened in the game yesterday.”
Kicking on the road is always tough as it’s hard to get a real grasp for the field conditions in such a short time during pregame warm-ups. However that hasn’t been the case for Tucker this season. In fact, in the five Ravens’ road games this season, Tucker has connected on 13 of 14 field goal attempts. His only miss came against the 49ers at Levi Stadium where the turf gave away as he planted his leg.
At home in the friendly confines of M&T Bank Stadium, Tucker’s struggles have been concerning. He’s been successful on just 10 field goals on 15 attempts.
“Our stadium is just a tough stadium to kick in,” said Tucker after kicking his 10th game winning field goal on Sunday against the Rams after missing two previous attempts.
“Today, I think the wind was anywhere from 12 to 20 miles per hour at any given time. That second 51-yarder, I felt like I hit that one right on the screws, and it started off straight as an arrow and it just leaked on me; to use a golf term there. That’s the frustrating part.
“The first ball, it just wasn’t a great ball. The second one, I thought I hit it well and it just moved with the wind,” Tucker went on to add. “That’s something that I really know better. I’ve been doing this long enough now to know at our stadium, I’ve just got to hit a – we like to call it a ‘Dog Pound’ ball, like we’re kicking into the ‘Dog Pound’ in Cleveland.
“It’s a slightly different ball that you’ve got to hit, you just get it up over the line and make sure it goes straight. That’s basically what I’ve got to do moving forward, regardless of the distance of the kick. The fact that I’ve missed a couple in our own stadium for 50-plus [yards], it’s just a number to me. At the end of the day, I’m just trying to make the next kick. I’m just trying to make the kick that is there at that present time.”
While each phase of the game (offense, defense, special teams) having their fair share of inconsistencies this season it’s tough to hang many losses on the pending free agent kicker. Tucker would certainly see it the opposite though as every point made or missed matters.
In the Ravens three wins this season, Tucker has made 11 of his 13 attempts. In their seven losses, he’s put 11-out-of- 15 attempts through the uprights.
While the Ravens battle through their remaining six games, the organization has to be hoping Tucker’s inconsistency from beyond 50 yards is just another anomaly in a season where nothing is going right.
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