Baltimore Ravens head coach John Harbaugh gave an urgent message on Justin Tucker. The legendary placekicker has had the worst year of his career so far. These struggles all came to a head against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday. Tucker left fans confounded after missing two field goals in the 18-16 loss at Heinz Field. As star quarterback Lamar Jackson and company look to regroup from this setback, Harbaugh was blunt about Tucker’s performance to ESPN Ravens reporter Jamison Hensley.
“Yeah, Tuck has to make kicks. He knows that. It’s important. He makes them in practice and made the long one later, which he’s still capable of. Kick it straight, we’ll be good.”
The Baltimore Ravens need Justin Tucker to snap out of his slump
Even if he were to retire right now, the 34-year-old out of Houston is among the greatest kickers in NFL history. Tucker is an eight-time All-Pro with the second-highest field goal percentage in league history and the longest kick ever in a game at 66 yards. However, this year has been a drastic dropoff for the Baltimore legend. Heading into Week 11, Tucker has hit a career-low 78.9% of his field goals and 97.4% of extra points. Those totals rank 35th and 28th in the entire NFL.
The lowest percentage the Ravens’ placekicker has recorded in a year is 82.5% in 2015. Unfortunately, Tucker’s misses have significantly affected a few games for Baltimore this year, which is costly for a franchise in a tight playoff race.
With their upcoming schedule, the Ravens must regroup from this loss as soon as possible. Lamar Jackson, who is high on most MVP lists, will lead his team into a tricky road matchup against the Los Angeles Chargers. After that, the Ravens’ schedule is against the Philadelphia Eagles, New York Giants, the Steelers again, Houston Texans, and Cleveland Browns.
Baltimore is now firmly in second place in the AFC North at 7-4 behind the 8-2 Steelers. John Harbaugh’s team is the current sixth seed in the AFC. The first team out of the playoffs is the 5-6 Indianapolis Colts, which had a surprising victory over the New York Jets on Sunday. Pittsburgh is the current two-seed, meaning there’s still little room between the Ravens and guaranteed home field until the conference championship.
The main difference between this year’s team and last year’s, which was one seed in the AFC, has been the defense. Baltimore gave up the fewest points per game on this side of the ball in 2023. The Ravens’ defense now lets up an average of 25.3 points a contest, an almost a nine-point jump from the previous year and 25th in the NFL. Consequently, Lamar Jackson and the offense have less margin for error going forward.
With this struggle to contain opponents, Baltimore needs Tucker now more than ever to play like the all-time great that he is. The placekicker’s form for the rest of the season could be the difference between a run to the Super Bowl and a disappointing first-round exit.
