Justin Tucker's well-documented struggles this season continued Sunday and cost his team dearly in the Baltimore Ravens' 24-19 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles.
Tucker missed two field goals and an extra point on Sunday and now is 19-for-27 on field-goal attempts and 42-of-44 on extra points for the 2024 season.
Despite Tucker's struggles, Ravens head coach John Harbaugh said that he does not foresee making a change at the position.
Harbaugh told reporters after the game that Tucker is still "definitely capable of making every kick" and that "nobody wants to make those kicks more than Justin," making clear that the team still supports him.
"If you're asking me are we going to move on from Justin Tucker, I'm not really planning on doing that right now," Harbaugh said.
Two-time MVP Lamar Jackson also had Tucker's back, saying he was "still the G.O.A.T." and that Jackson still has confidence in his kicker. Jackson took blame for the Ravens' offense not converting drives better throughout the game.
"I felt like we left stuff out there," Jackson said. "We shouldn't even put Tuck in those situations."
Baltimore scored only two touchdowns on five red-zone trips. Tucker was 2 of 4 on field-goal tries, missing from 47 and 53 yards in the third quarter. Each miss kept the Eagles ahead 14-12. Tucker also hit the left upright on his first extra-point try, capping the Ravens' early lead at 9-0.
Tucker took ownership for Sunday's misses but didn't get into the hows and whys of Tucker's struggles.
"Simple as I can put it, I missed the kicks, and I'll leave it at that," Tucker said. "I just let points out there. I feel like I cost us this one.
"But it doesn't really do anybody any good to dwell on it. The only thing that we can do – that I can do – is continue to work. Move forward, take it one kick at a time."
Tucker started the season shakily, seemed to steady himself around midseason but has since fallen back. His struggles reemerged during an 18-16 loss to the Steelers in Week 11, during which he missed two kicks in the loss. Most of Tucker's misses have been from 50 yards and longer, but he's now missed two shorter kicks the past weeks.
Again, Tucker's focus after Sunday's loss was on his own accountability and focus, not reviewing the mechanics of the misses.
"I hate that I've had to have this same conversation over the course of this season, but that's something that comes with the territory in this job description," Tucker said. "The kicks are either good or they're not. Today, I did not do a good enough job to help our team win the football game."
The 8-5 Ravens now have the bye week to get their potentially future Hall of Fame kicker straightened out while they chase the Steelers in the AFC North before the rematch with Pittsburgh in Week 16.
