Tucker Named First-Team All-Pro

Today the Associated Press announced their All-Pro teams and only one Raven made the first or second-team, and that was kicker Justin Tucker.

It comes as no surprise that he is the only Ravens’ player who made the All-Pro team as the team finished 8-8 this season and didn’t make the playoffs.

Earlier this week, I named him as the Ravens’ MVP for this season and it is very easy to see how he earned this All-Pro nomination.

Courtesy of ICON SMI

He truly was the Ravens’ offense at times this season as he went 38-of-41 on field goal attempts (92.7 percent) and tied for the league lead in attempts and makes. He was also an impressive 6-of-7 on field goals from 50 plus yards including a 61-yard field goal, the second-longest field goal made this season. Only attempting 26 extra points this season — which was tied for 29th most in the NFL, a true testament to how bad the Ravens’ offense really was — he made all 26 of them.

His best game of the season came against the Detroit Lions in week 15 where the Ravens won 18-16 and he scored all 18 points. In this game, he made field goals from 29, 24, 32, 49, 53 and 61 yards. By kicking six field goals in a game, he set a new franchise record (he had tied the old record of five earlier in the season) and he became the first kicker in NFL history to make field goals in the 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s and 60s in the same game.

This 61-yard field goal came with 38 seconds left in the game and barely squeezed through the uprights making it by a few inches in the bottom right corner. It was the second-longest field goal made on Monday Night Football and is the longest made in an indoor stadium. Also, he set a franchise record for the longest made field goal. The previous record was for a 56-yard field goal that was set by Wade Richey in 2003 and tied by Tucker last year.

For the game, he had 248 yards on his field goals. To put that in perspective, the Ravens and Lions only passed for 215 and 230 yards respectively in that game.

These six field goals extended his streak of 33-consecative field goals made. The following week this streak ended just three away from the franchise record of 36 set by Matt Stover.

During this season, Tucker set franchise records for most field goals mades (38) and most total points (140) in a single-season.

With his performance throughout the season, it is easy to see why he earned this distinction this season. He has shown himself to be one of the best kickers in the league and now he is getting rewarded for it with a Pro Bowl nod and now becoming a first-team All-Pro — something that holds much more importance than playing in the Pro Bowl.

Not bad for a second-year kicker, let alone one who went undrafted.