Justin Tucker 'Has Been Nails' Since Bye Week
It all seems to be coming together for the Ravens as they head into the regular-season finale and then the playoffs.
The offense has been one of the NFL's most potent all season, and the defense has been among the league's best over the past six weeks.
Oh, and Justin Tucker looks like Justin Tucker again.
"Justin Tucker is so back," The Baltimore Sun’s Sam Cohn wrote. "Or at least it feels that way, considering how well the Ravens kicker is swinging his leg this side of the early December bye week."
Tucker entered that week having missed a career-high 10 kicks (eight field-goal attempts and two extra-point tries). He hasn't missed since.
"Coach John Harbaugh tempered outside noise that suggested they bring in a challenger at the position," Cohn wrote. "'I believe it will [get fixed],' he said. 'It has to.' Tucker told his coach heading into the bye that he knew what he had to do. It was just a matter of going out and doing it. Since then, Tucker has been nails.
"He didn't get the chance to kick a field goal in a 35-14 beatdown against the lowly New York Giants, but he made all five extra-point tries. He came back a week later to make two field goals (one from 51 yards) versus Pittsburgh. And on Christmas Day in Houston, he calmly split the uprights from 52 yards."
In turning things around, Tucker officially regained his status as the most accurate kicker in NFL history.
"He's making great ball contact. The ball's flying straight. He's doing everything right," punter and holder Jordan Stout said. "It's just like back to normal. Whatever that was that happened is over now and we're ready to move on."
Lamar Jackson Has Chance to Make 'Closing Argument' for MVP
Lamar Jackson has made it clear that winning a third league MVP award is not his focus, but the debate over whether he or Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen is more deserving continues to rage on.
Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio, who has an MVP vote, said Jackson has an opportunity to make a "closing argument" this weekend that Allen doesn't have.
"That's going to be a factor," Florio said on “Glenn Clark Radio.” "If Lamar goes out on Saturday afternoon at 4:30 p.m. Eastern [against the Browns] and just goes nuts, with like six touchdown passes or some big performance and has everyone's jaw drop, and they clinch the division with that win, that's the last piece of evidence that the voters will see before sitting down next week and making that decision as to who the MVP should be."
The Bills have clinched the No. 2 seed in the AFC, so nothing will be at stake when they play the New England Patriots on Sunday.
Bills Head Coach Sean McDermott said Allen, who has the longest active streak among NFL quarterbacks with 114 consecutive starts, will start the game to continue the streak but "will be out there for a very, very short-lived amount of time."
Ravens' Path to Super Bowl Could Include Games at Two of the Toughest Places to Play
There's a decent chance the Ravens' path to the Super Bowl will include games at Buffalo and Kansas City, a challenging proposition to say the least.
ESPN asked more than 100 NFL players to rank the toughest places to play. Kansas City's Arrowhead Stadium was No. 1 and Buffalo's Highmark Stadium was No. 5. The Chiefs and Bills are the only teams to go undefeated at home this season.
M&T Bank Stadium was tied for the 11th-toughest place to play.
Historically, the Ravens have been road warriors in the postseason. They're 11-8 away from Baltimore in the playoffs, and the 2000 and 2012 Super Bowl-winning Ravens teams each won two road playoff games.
