Baltimore Ravens kicker Justin Tucker moved into sole possession of second place on the franchise's all-time scoring list during Sunday's 23-21 win over the Cleveland Browns, per Ravens assistant director of media relations Patrick Gleason.
Now owning 301 career points in his third NFL season, Tucker moved past Billy Cundiff (294), who served as Cleveland's kicker during Sunday's game.
The two players will forever be intertwined in the minds of Ravens fans, as Cundiff famously shanked what would have been a game-tying 32-yard field goal in the closing seconds of the 2011 AFC Championship Game against the New England Patriots.
Tucker then beat out Cundiff for the placekicking job during the following training camp and went on to make 34 of his 37 field-goal attempts (including playoffs) as a rookie for the Super Bowl champs. Tucker's successful attempts that season included a 47-yarder to topple the heavily favored Denver Broncos in overtime of a classic divisional playoff game.
The Ravens' decision to go with Tucker over Cundiff was further affirmed Sunday, as the Browns kicker missed a 50-yard attempt off the left upright in the fourth quarter and then had a 47-yard try blocked by Ravens cornerback Asa Jackson just minutes later.
Tucker, meanwhile, converted all three of his chances, including a 32-yarder on the game's final play. He's hit 76 of his 83 career regular-season field-goal attempts, good for a ridiculous 91.6 percent conversion rate.
Per Gleason, Tucker has seven game-winning field goals, with six of those coming in the regular season, plus the all-important playoff kick in Denver. Last year, he memorably hit a 61-yarder—his sixth field goal of the game—to beat the Detroit Lions by a score of 18-16.
Now second on the franchise scoring list, Tucker will have to stick around for quite some time to make a run at the record. Matt Stover, who kicked for the Ravens from 1996 to 2008, recorded 1,464 regular-season points in a Baltimore uniform.
Among non-kickers, retired running back Jamal Lewis holds the franchise record of 284 career points, per Pro-Football-Reference.com.
from Bleacher Report http://ift.tt/1oeb9af
via IFTTT September 22, 2014 at 02:19PM
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