The 2022 season was a rather rough one for Pittsburgh Steelers veteran kicker Chris Boswell.
Dealing with a number of injuries to his groin and hip, Boswell fell off a cliff from a statistics standpoint, converting just 71.4% of his kicks last season in just 12 games.
That decline in production came after a career year in 2021 in which Boswell drilled 36-of-40 field goals for the Steelers. The 2022 season saw him convert on just 20-of-28. He missed time due to injuries and watched Matthew Wright hit on 12-of-14 field goals in relief.
Due to that decline in production and inability to stay healthy, Boswell fell from No. 2 in CBS Sports’ kicker rankings in 2022 to No. 6 on Friday, falling behind Atlanta’s Younghoe Hoo, Indianapolis’ Matt Gay, Kansas City’s Harrison Butker and Las Vegas’ Daniel Carlson in the rankings.
“The Steelers kicker was No. 2 on this list last year, but he’s now down to sixth after an ugly 2022 season where he only hit 71.4% of his field goals. The reason he’s still on this list, though, is because he has such an impressive track record. In the three seasons from 2019 to 2022, Boswell hit 90% or more of his field goals each year, making him the ONLY kicker in the NFL to pull off that feat,” CBS Sports’ John Breech writes regarding Boswell’s ranking. “Also, one reason Boswell struggled in 2022 was because he was dealing with a groin injury that forced him to miss five games. If a kicker is dealing with a lower body injury, that usually means trouble for them, because it’s almost impossible to play through. Assuming he’s healthy in 2023, it won’t be surprising to see him return to form.
“Despite his ugly year in 2022, Boswell still has a career field goal percentage of 86.3%, which makes him the 11th most accurate kicker in NFL history.”
Some of those struggles could certainly be to the injury to his groin and hip, which sapped some of his power and accuracy. Prior to landing on Injured Reserve after the Week 8 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles, Boswell had missed just three field goal attempts. After returning from IR ahead of the Week 13 matchup against the visiting Baltimore Ravens, Boswell missed four kicks down the stretch, including two on Christmas Eve against the Las Vegas Raiders.
He very clearly wasn’t healthy during the 2022 season, which led to his worst season since his 2018 struggles.
It’s not that surprising he fell in the rankings, but it is shocking he fell four spots due to struggles. If he can stay healthy in 2023, he should be able to bounce back for the Steelers.
