Baltimore Ravens kicker Justin Tucker knows the pressure of making field goals when the outcome of the game is at stake. Now that the PAT will be attempted from the 15-yard line, this makes it PAT essentially a 33-yard field goal.
Tucker has never missed a kick shorter than 37 yards during his three years in the NFL. In fact, he is 110 for 110 from that range. Speaking up on how he will approach the new rule change, Tucker shared this response (via baltimoreravens.com).
“For me, it just means I get more field goals in games. The only difference is it’s a 33-yard field goal worth one point. That’s how I’m going to look at it.”
That’s about what all of the kickers can view the rule change as.
Don’t get Tucker wrong in the fact he finds his job difficult enough already:
“I think the idea is to add excitement to every single play, but really what it does is make every kicker’s job a little bit harder,” said Tucker, who already has a tough job.
“We play in the AFC North and we play almost every single game outside. This is a tough division to play football in in general. It takes maybe a little bit more mental toughness than playing in a dome 10 games a year.”
It is reported that Tucker will immediately practice kicking all PAT’s from 33 yards. Tucker has already practiced making his conditions more difficult by using sets of narrowed field goal posts.
As for the rule change, Tucker should be just fine.
Photo: USA Today Sports