The best way to understand the kicking woes of Baltimore’s Justin Tucker is to ask another kicker what the hell is going on. So I did. In fact, I asked one of the best to ever do it.
Lawrence Tynes kicked game-winning field goals in two NFC title games to send the Giants to the Super Bowl. Tynes, who played for three NFL teams between 2001 and 2013, was one of the most clutch kickers of his generation. He won two Super Bowls.
What Tynes says matters and what he thinks has happened to Tucker is extremely interesting.
“From the couch, looking on,” Tynes told USA TODAY Sports, “he has a mechanical flaw that was causing him to pull all his kicks. Does not look like he was able to fix what was causing that and continues to miss left in-game.
“I say in-game because I am sure he was able to fix it in practice. Games are different.
Bill Belichick said something similar on the “Let’s Go!” podcast.
“Obviously there’s something that’s a little bit off from a technique standpoint,” Belichick explained, “but I don’t see that there’s like a lack of talent. I think there’s something mechanically that he’s not doing consistently. If you have the key to unlock that problem, then probably everything could be great.
“But clearly this extends back even to last year a little bit, too, because there was some accuracy issues last year in the ‘23 season as well as the current season. So I think Coach (John) Harbaugh is doing the right thing. I would stick with Justin Tucker. This guy was the most accurate kicker in the history of football. He gets great height on the ball. He’s been super consistent. He’s obviously having a little bit of a rough patch right here, but it doesn’t look to me like his talent level has declined. There’s something mechanically that just isn’t quite right all the time. I think they just gotta work hard and try to find that.”
Tucker has missed five kicks in the last three games. For Tucker, this is like an ordinary kicker missing 50. Tucker is The Avengers of kickers. (Not sure if he’s Thor or Iron Man or Captain Marvel or the guy with the arrows, but you get it.)
Overall, what’s happening to him now is one of the wildest stories not just in the NFL, but in all of sports.
But enough of Belichick. Back to Tynes. And for the record, as a kicking nerd, I could listen to Tynes for days. He’s utterly fascinating.
“Inevitably, you can overcompensate for a left miss, and miss right, which he did Sunday,” Tynes continued.
Tucker missed an extra point and two field goals during Baltimore’s 24-19 loss to Philadelphia.
“To summarize,” he said, “he is struggling mentally, that’s the bottom line.”
How does Tucker fix this? No one knows. If they did, it would have already been fixed.
What’s clear is that the Ravens have a difficult choice. Harbaugh can stick with Tucker and hope he works out his issues. If he does, the team would continue on, and make a deep playoff run.
Or, Harbaugh can stick with Tucker, and if the kicker doesn’t work out his issues, he could miss a kick that costs the team a playoff game.
These are not easy choices.
As he often does, Tynes perfectly summarized everything.
“He is the best kicker of all time who has never even had a mini-slump in his career,” Tynes said. “This is his first one and if we’re being honest, he is not handling it well. Would hate to be the Ravens right now because yes, you believe he can fix it, but what if he doesn’t and you lose a playoff game because of him?”
Yeah, this is not easy for the Ravens.
