OWINGS MILLS — Ravens kicker Justin Tucker is dealing with the biggest challenge of his 13-year career.
For the first time, Tucker has missed a field-goal attempt in three consecutive games. Those missed kicks have been costly to the team.
Ravens coach John Harbaugh is confident that the 34-year-old Tucker will pull himself out of this uncharacteristic slump.
“For Justin, it’s just a technique issue right now that he’s working through,” Harbaugh said. “He’s got a technique thing going on, and he’ll work through it. He knows exactly what it is, and he just needs to smooth it back out, and I’m very confident that he will.”
On Sunday against the Dallas Cowboys, Tucker missed a 46-yard attempt that went wide left that would have given the Ravens a 31-6 lead. Instead, the Cowboys scored on the next possession, which was a catalyst for a fourth-quarter rally.
The Ravens escaped with a 28-25 win, but there are questions about Tucker’s psyche after missing another kick.
“Justin knows that we support him; I’ve tried to make sure he knows that – that’s part of it, just relationship-wise,” Harbaugh said. “The talent and the ability, all of that stuff is there. That hasn’t gone anywhere – we see it all the time – but [the issue is] a technique thing. Randy Brown does a great job coaching that part of it. Randy is the foremost guy in the business at that.
“They work on that every single day. For me, I just try to encourage what I see and understand the technique as well. Justin is a pro, and I have great belief that he’ll get the job done.”
In Week 1, Tucker missed a 53-yarder against the Kansas City Chiefs and the Ravens lost, 27-20. The following week, Tucker’s 56-yard attempt had the distance but hooked wide left against the Las Vegas Raiders, who erased a 10-point fourth-quarter deficit for a 26-23 victory.
Dating to last season, Tucker is just 1-for-7 on attempts from 50 yards or more. It’s a concern, but Tucker’s track record indicates that he can overcome the slump.
Tucker has a Hall of Fame-caliber career and has 90.2 percent career accuracy on field goals, which is the best in the NFL. He has won numerous games for the Ravens and owns the record for the longest field goal in NFL history — a 66-yarder against the Detroit Lions in 2021.
Tucker has 19 game-winning field goals (18 regular season and one playoff game), connecting on 11 of those in road games. He is a seven-time Pro Bowler and earned First-Team All-Pro honors five times.
It’s hard to imagine the Ravens would bring in a free-agent kicker to compete for Tucker’s job, but he’ll have to start being more consistent.
Harbaugh and Tucker have a tight relationship because of their 13-year partnership in Baltimore.
“From a conversation standpoint, we’re pretty close,” Harbaugh said. “We’ve been together for a long time, and [we’ve] had a lot of conversations, and we know each other. So, that was just two guys talking [about] where we’re at. I just love [Justin Tucker], [and] I respect him. He’s everything that you want in a player [and] in a friend.”