The Baltimore Ravens picked up their fifth loss of the 2024 season on Sunday, falling 24-19 to the Philadelphia Eagles.
While Lamar Jackson and the Ravens’ potent offense had a lackluster performance to say the least, Baltimore traded Blows with Philadelphia the entire game and could have walked away with a victory if their future Hall of Fame kicker, Justin Tucker, would have delivered like he’s done so many times in past seasons.
But Tucker’s significant 2024 slump continued on Sunday in the worst way. He missed two field goals and an extra point — and those seven points would have been enough to secure the victory — but Tucker has continued the disturbing trend that has plagued him all year.
He’s connected on just 19-of-25 field goals thus far — an almost unrecognizable 76 percent that ranks as one of the lowest among full-time kickers.
For more than a decade, the Baltimore Ravens’ kicker has been almost automatic, connecting on clutch kicks from far distances time and time again throughout his NFL career. Tucker entered the season with a sparkling 90.2 percent success rate on field goal attempts, an NFL record.
NFL writers Mike Jones and Ted Nguyen of the Athletic believe the Ravens have no choice but to make a move to add a new kicker, which would be a drastic decision involving the future Hall of Fame player.
Here’s what Jones said:
“It’s very difficult to watch a legendary player like Tucker struggle like this. He’s now had multiple crucial misses on either field goals or extra point attempts in four of the Ravens’ five losses. Harbaugh and the Ravens love Tucker, though, so they want to handle this situation with great care. But loyalty could wind up costing them, either down the stretch of this regular season or in the playoffs. They really have no other choice than to explore other options at kicker. I’m not saying cut Tucker, but it’s just smart to bring someone else in to at least compete with him and then evaluate the situation on a week-by-week basis.”
Nguyen followed up with an even more drastic assessment of the Ravens’ kicker:
“I think we’ve seen enough of Tucker this season to conclude that this isn’t just a slump. He’s cost them games and there is too much riding on this season to have the Ravens’ playoff hopes derailed by a kicker. As legendary as Tucker is, I think Baltimore has to at least explore other options at kicker. The ones available won’t have the ceiling that Tucker does, but he’s been terrible from over 50 yards this season and I can’t imagine it could get any worse. There’s a chance he’s able to get things together, but we’ve seen first-round quarterbacks get benched this season — no one should be safe if they’re costing you games.”
As of now, Baltimore Ravens’ head coach John Harbaugh is saying publicly they aren’t preparing to make a move regarding Tucker.
“We’ve been working through it,” Harbaugh said after the game. “You work through it with every single player, every single thing. You fight to try to help guys 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 would be wise. … If you look at Justin Tucker’s history, you’d have to say he’s capable of doing that.”
That didn’t quite sound like a full vote of confidence and as crazy as it sounds, it’s safe to say the Ravens have to consider making a change.
