Ravens kicker Justin Tucker’s shaky start to the season generated conversation about whether one of the best players at his position in league history had lost his mojo, but Tucker and Ravens head coach John Harbaugh expressed confidence that a tweak to Tucker’s technique would iron things out.
Tucker didn’t get a chance to test that out in Week Four because the Ravens never tried a field goal in their win over the Bills and he wasn’t called on for the first 58 minutes of Week Five either, but the opportunity finally came. Tucker was called on to try a 56-yard field goal to tie the Bengals and he knocked it through, although he revealed on Thursday that it wasn’t a technique tweak that led to the make.
It was windy in Cincinnati and Tucker said the moment called for him to go “off pure vibes and just hammer the ball” rather than aim for a particular point between the uprights. It worked and Tucker made another field goal to win the game in overtime, but the kicker isn’t ready to say he feels he’s put his issues to bed once and for all.
“Yes and no. Very realistically, this is a what-have-you-done-for-me-lately business,” Tucker said, via the team’s website. “I’m just as eager and excited for my next opportunity as I ever have been.”
That opportunity could come against the Commanders this Sunday and continued accuracy will make it easier to feel that his slump is officially over.
