Justin Tucker missing an extra point was a plain stunner that most around the football world thought they’d never see.
He had been perfect on 245 attempts when you combine the regular season and playoffs.
His wide-eyed reaction after his 246th sailed wide right with 24 seconds left in regulation, sealing a 24-23 loss to New Orleans, said it all.
A day later, Ravens Head Coach John Harbaugh said there’s more than one thing that went into the botched boot.
“I talked about the kick with him last night,” he said. “There’s a lot of technical parts of it that go into it. The wind was definitely a part of it.”
Following the game Tucker took ownership of the miss.
“I feel like I cost us the game,” he said. “Our stadium is just a tough place to kick in. That being said, I still should just make kicks.”
Tucker’s teammates had his back.
“He’s just been automatic but he’s human too,” said guard Marshal Yanda. “His job is hard and it’s not easy to make the kicks every time.”
“Shoot, Tuck’s going to win us some games,” added safety Eric Weddle. “We’re not worried about that missed kick.”
Neither is Coach Harbaugh.
“We have all the confidence in the world in Tuck. We love him. He’s going to go to work hard. He’s going to come back. His confidence is not going to be shook at all. I don’t know of anybody 1.000 in their career,” said Harbaugh.
What about going for a potential game-winning two-point conversion instead of attempting the extra point? Harbaugh said that was under consideration but the numbers say to kick the ball and put the game into overtime.
“That’s what the analytics say. But, I had thoughts about going for two. I was asked that and I thought about it,” added Harbaugh. “Your gut sometimes talks to you and you make the decision at the end based on that.”
He was left with a gut punch and the Ravens’ third loss of the season.
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