Although he had missed some extra point attempts this season, including one that was blocked a couple of weeks ago, Pittsburgh Steelers kicker Chris Boswell had been on something of a run. Not only had he gone 14 for 14 on field goal attempts over the course of the first nine games of the 2020 season, he had made 25 consecutive field goals overall coming into Sunday’s game against the Jacksonville Jaguars, which was the longest active streak in the league.
A week ago, on making three out of three field goals, Boswell surpassed former Steelers kicker Shaun Suisham in becoming the most accurate kicker in franchise history. After missing his first field goal attempt on Sunday, however, he not only dipped back below Suisham’s line, he broke that consecutive kick streak.
It was the first field goal that he has missed since going back to the disastrous first game against the Cleveland Browns last season, or the Myles Garrett game, when he plunked Mason Rudolph in the head with the quarterback’s own helmet. The Steelers lost that one 21-7. Boswell attempted one field goal from 44 yards out on the Steelers’ second drive.
On this occasion, his missed field goal was set in motion by a bad snap from the long snapper, Kameron Canaday, who is in his fourth season with the Steelers. The veteran has had some poor snaps this year that both Dustin Colquitt and now Jordan Berry have had to make the best of. That’s part of the job, but of course you want to get the best snaps you can get.
According to our own Alex Kozora, Boswell’s 25-make streak was actually the longest in Steelers history. Suisham had once made 24 consecutive field goals, so he need each of the three makes that he had last week for the record. Jeff Reed also once made 22 consecutive field goals. What do all three of them have in common? They were signed mid-season after the team cut their previous kicker for underperforming. And then went on to have a long career with the team.
Boswell would finish the game with two makes in addition to the early miss, which now makes him 143 for 163 for his career, so his career average dropped from 88.125 percent to 87.73 percent. In other words, he’s back behind Suisham again for the team record for the best field goal percentage.
Suisham ended his tenure with the team averaging a make on 87.94 percent of his attempts. In order for Boswell to overtake him again, he will have to make each of his next three attempts successively, which would bring his average up to 87.95.
As it stands, he remains the fifth-most accurate field goal kicker in NFL history. He also holds the Steelers’ records for the most points and makes in a single season, and now the longest field goal as of last week. He also owns the record for the most makes in a game, and the longest make streak. He’s held to a higher standard than his predecessors, but he’s lived up to them, even after a scare in 2018.
