Baltimore Ravens: Kicker Justin Tucker Team MVP
By Ben Palmer
Justin Tucker appears to be on his way to becoming one of the greatest kickers in NFL history, and so far this season, he’s been the Baltimore Ravens’ MVP
In all of the NFL, there is currently only one kicker who has not missed a single extra point or field goal attempt, and that’s Baltimore Ravens kicker Justin Tucker.
Any fan of the Baltimore Ravens knows just how amazing Tucker is and just how incredibly important he is to the team. I think he proved that most definitively in 2013 when he kicked a 61-yard field goal with less than 40 seconds remaining in the game to propel the Ravens to a win over the Detroit Lions.
This past Sunday’s game was just another example of how excellent Tucker is and how important he is to the Baltimore Ravens. In the first half alone, Tucker tied an NFL record with three 50+ yard field goals, something that hasn’t been done in a single game (let alone a single half) since 2012 when Cleveland Browns kicker Phil Dawson did it.
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Tucker made field goals from 52, 57, and 54 yards in the first half, and then added a 36-yard field goal in the 4th quarter, giving him 12 of the Ravens 19 total points the entire game.
Considering an NFL-record 12 extra points were missed just over a week ago, it’s impressive how good Tucker has been. He has hit 34-straight field goals, which brings him very close to reaching Adam Vinatieri’s recent record of 44 consecutively made field goals.
This past offseason, the Ravens franchised Justin Tucker and gave him a pretty insane contract by kicker standards, signing him to a four-year, $16.8M deal. But Tucker has proven himself to be worth every penny, coming through in just about every clutch moment the Ravens need him in.
In fact, for his career, Justin Tucker is 39-for-44 on field goal attempts in the fourth quarter, which is an 88.6% accuracy rate. The man comes through in the clutch, there’s no doubt about that.
Considering that the Ravens only have 19 total touchdowns on the year, and that they have been in the bottom-half of the NFL in total offense so far, Tucker’s success has become that much more important.
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Certainly the Ravens excellent defense has helped tremendously, it’s one of the main reasons the team is contending right now, but the other big reason is the best kicker in the NFL right now, Justin Tucker, and it’s for those reasons that he’s the obvious MVP for the team so far.