There might not be a greater kicker in the history of the NFL than Baltimore Ravens' Justin Tucker. After his game-winning 43-yard field-goal against the Cincinnati Bengals, Tucker extended his second half/overtime field-goal streak to 72, with 59 of those coming in the fourth quarter and extra period.
Thus, talks as to who the actual GOAT kicker actually is were reignited, and amongst a sea of greats, one unfathomable stat pushes Tucker way above his competition.
Per data analytics expert Michael Lopez, Justin Tucker's game-winning kick against the Bengals would have gone in even if the posts were half a yard apart, the accuracy and precision of his kicks in full display.
Lopez wrote: “Using @NextGenStats ball tracking data, Justin Tucker's game winning field goal crossed the upright with a y-coordinate (width of field) of 26.52. The exact middle of the field is y= 26.67 That is, if the uprights were half a yard wide, the kick would have still been good.”
In addition, Lopez also noted that over the years, Justin Tucker's kicks have almost always been right down the middle, quelling the doubts of Ravens fans and teammates as soon as the ball hits his right cleat.
“It's not just this kick — Tucker is always pure down the middle. Here's @DataWithBliss ‘s plot from two years ago. Tucker leads the league in middle-of-the-upright accuracy,” Lopez added.
It's not just this kick — Tucker is always pure down the middle.
Here's @DataWithBliss's plot from two years ago.
Tucker leads the league in middle-of-the-upright accuracy https://t.co/TkrCKPmDzt pic.twitter.com/vjBmuDg1Oa
— Michael Lopez (@StatsbyLopez) October 10, 2022
Being this good at something should be illegal, right? No?
What makes Tucker's feat even more amazing is that he routinely does things like these with the game on the line, where pressure gets to the head of even the best of us. But perhaps the greatest performers in their respective fields are impervious to pressure, especially after what we've seen from the 32-year old kicker throughout his career.
And after Justin Tucker's par for the course heroics that now come dangerously close to being taken for granted, the Ravens moved to 3-2 on the season. The Ravens will face the New York Giants for their Week 6 clash, and if the game ever becomes a nip-and-tuck affair during crunch time, Baltimore could rest easy knowing that they could call on arguably the greatest kicker of all time to rescue the day once more.
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