One of the most mind-boggling stat lines from the Baltimore Ravens‘ gut-wrenching 13-3 loss to the Cleveland Browns in Week 15, arguably even more than the offense rushing for nearly 200 yards and not scoring a touchdown, was the fact that Justin Tucker went 1-of-3 on field goal attempts.
The future Hall of Fame specialist is still the most accurate kicker in NFL history with a successful career field goal percentage of 90.6. However, for the first time since Week 16 of the 2018 season, Tucker had a pair of unsuccessful attempts in a single game. The last occurrence came in a 22-10 win over the Los Angeles Chargers and both misses came from beyond 50 yards.
Against the Browns in a game where points were hard to come by, the franchise’s recently cemented all-time leading scorer missed a kick and had one blocked. For a player that has been their most reliable scoring weapon for just over a decade, it was an uncharacteristic performance, to say the least.
His miss came on the final play of the first half from 48 yards out and it hooked wide left. It marked his first miss from under 50 yards all season and prevented the Ravens from tying the game at 6-6.
They would’ve had a chance to bookend each half with points but that miss coupled with Tyler Huntley’s interception on the open drive of the third quarter squandered that opportunity.
His blocked attempt came inside the first minute of the fourth quarter with the Ravens trailing 13-3. It was from 50 yards out and would’ve cut the Browns’ lead to just one possession with almost an entire quarter left to play with a potent rushing attack that was absolutely dominant all night.
Justin Tucker is now 1/3 on field goals today t.co/tJi1G69T9m
Tucker Wanted to Shoulder Blame
After the game, the five-time All-Pro told his teammates that he holds himself accountable for the team’s first loss to an AFC opponent of the season. As one of the stalwart leaders on the team, he feels that it was on him to execute better when they needed him most.
Justin Tucker after missing two FGs (48 and 50 yards) in a loss at Cleveland: “I made it a point to let a number of my teammates know that I felt like this one was on me. As someone who feels like I’m a leader in this locker room, that’s the example that needs to be set.”
“I just made it a point to let a number of my teammates know that I felt like this one was on me,” Tucker said in a postgame press conference. “As someone who feels like I am a leader in this locker room, I think that is the example that needs to be set. Anytime any one of us feels like we fall short, we do acknowledge it.”
Despite the pair of misses, he never wavered in his confidence and said that “every kick is unique in and of itself” so he doesn’t have a different approach after misses as he does makes.
“For me, approaching any kick with any mindset other than, ‘This is the kick that I need to make in this moment of time,’ that is just doing myself and my teammates a disservice,” Tucker added.
Teammates Were Not Having Any of It
While Tucker wanted to hold himself responsible for their shortcomings against the Browns, his fellow players came to his defense. All-Pro cornerback Marlon Humphrey vehemently refuted the narrative that he was even remotely at fault in his postgame press conference.
“He just tried to say in the locker room that game was on him, and I think everybody in the locker room was like, ‘Don’t ever say that again.’ He has won us too many games,” he said. He is the best for a reason.”
Humphrey went on to point out that for the past decade, Tucker has been a reliable catalyst to their success, “never” the other way around, and is the “last person” that anyone on the team or organization for that matter is worried about at all.
We don’t even let those words,” he said. “If he even thinks that for a second, we are here to pick him up. He has picked us up many times and bailed us out so many times. Justin Tucker, he is just great – a great character guy and A great leader on this team. He will continue to not have many days like this.”
This game will go down as nothing more than an aberration on his otherwise gold-jacket-worthy resume. The Ravens are still very fortunate and blessed to have a kicker of Tucker’s caliber. He’ll be making clutch kicks for the team for many years to come and will likely boot another game-winner or two before the 2022 regular season is over and will certainly be needed in the postseason where points are even harder to come by.
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Ravens Future Hall of Fame Blames Himself For Loss vs. Browns