With a 42-yard field goal to start the scoring in Baltimore’s 16-14 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers, kicker Justin Tucker became the Ravens’ all-time leading scorer.
Then, with two more field goals and an extra point later in the game, it was Tucker’s leg providing a total of 10 points and the difference in a triumph that kept the Ravens (9-4) in a tie for first place in the AFC North with Cincinnati.
It also gave the Ravens a cover at Maryland sportsbooks, which mostly had the Steelers as a two-point favorite.
Currently holding the NFL record for career field goal percentage (91%) and the longest-ever field goal (66 yards), it’s almost a given that Tucker will wind up in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Career FG Percentage Leaders
Justin Tucker leads the field:
History of Kickers in Hall of Fame
Only two other pure kickers, Morten Andersen and Jan Stenerud, are already in Canton. Two players who kicked and also played other positions, George Blanda and Lou Groza, are also in the Hall of Fame. And certainly, kicker Adam Vinatieri, who officially retired in 2021 as the NFL’s all-time leading scorer, is destined to receive a gold jacket at a Canton induction ceremony.
Tucker, 33, in his 11th NFL season, arguably has contributed as much if not more than any other kicker in NFL history to his team’s won-loss record during his career with an unmatched reliability.
Sunday’s game, when Tucker accounted for the bulk of Baltimore’s points, is representative of his value. This season, the incredibly consistent kicker has accounted for 113 points, or 37.5% of Baltimore’s total scoring. And he keeps being a difference-maker in close games
Against the Bengals, with whom the Ravens are battling for the AFC North title, it was Tucker’s four field goals plus an extra point that decided the Ravens’ 19-17 win on Oct. 9.
Two weeks later, against another division foe, Cleveland, Tucker hit a 55-yard bomb in the fourth quarter that was the winning margin in a 23-20 triumph. Against Carolina on Nov. 20, Tucker’s two field goals and an extra point were the bulk of Baltimore’s scoring in a 13-3 win. Then, against Denver on Dec. 4, Tucker’s extra point following a last-minute Ravens’ TD (he had kicked a field goal earlier in the game) was the margin of victory in a 10-9 game.
Tucker clearly has the Ravens in the thick of the playoff hunt in Maryland NFL betting.
BetMGM Maryland Sportsbook currently has the Ravens as the fourth choice to win the AFC at +1100, behind the Buffalo Bills (+175), Kansas City Chiefs (+220) and the Bengals (+1100).
Postseason Prowess as Well
Justin Tucker is just as reliable on the big stage. Sometimes forgotten is that when the Ravens won Super Bowl XLVII following the 2012 season, the rookie kicker made a 47-yard field goal in double overtime against Denver in the AFC Divisional game. Then, he accounted for the Ravens’ last six points on a pair of fourth-quarter field goals in the 34-31 Super Bowl win over San Francisco.
Since Tucker’s rookie season in 2012, he has accounted for 34.5% of all the Ravens’ scoring.
More Proof of Tucker’s Worth
Pro Football Focus, recognized as perhaps the leading source for sophisticated football data and analysis, puts Tucker on a kicking pedestal. Using a PFF metric it calls “Field Goal Percentage Over Expectation,” Tucker — from 2013 through 2021 — is +8%. To put that number into context, the next best NFL kicker in that category over that time period with more than 100 field goal attempts is Kansas City’s Harrison Butker with about a +5.5%. No other kicker with at least 100 attempts comes close.
While the numbers are impressive in their own right, there is the intangible of Tucker’s reliability on the mindset of coach John Harbaugh. Earlier this season, Tucker joined an elite group of three other kickers with 50 or more field goals of 50 yards or more. More impressively, he did it with 54 successful kicks on 75 attempts (72%). To also put that number into context, since 2014, the average successful field goal percentage at all distances in the NFL was about 84%.
So, Harbaugh is far more likely to risk Tucker on a longer attempt whereas other coaches, fearing a missed try would surrender good field position to the opposition, would forgo the FG attempt and punt the ball. It’s incalculable how Harbaugh’s confidence in his kicker has translated into Ravens’ points.
Tucker’s consistency no doubt plays a role when Maryland betting apps set the lines for Ravens games.
As the 2022 season wears on with the Ravens star quarterback Lamar Jackson trying to recover from a knee injury and with his backup, Tyler Huntley, hoping to return from a concussion suffered Sunday against the Steelers, Baltimore might find itself relying more than ever on Tucker’s leg and the points it consistently produces.
As Harbaugh counts on Tucker, you can count on BetMaryland.com for sports betting angles on the Ravens and other sports, as well as for Maryland sportsbook promos.
