The Steelers are now back at the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex, facing down a long regular season that looks a lot more promising given how things have gone leading up to it. Finishing just above .500 last year, they anticipate being able to compete with any team in the league this season with second-year QB Kenny Pickett leading the way.
They’ve done a great deal to address what they identified as their shortcomings during the offseason, which included addressing the offensive and defensive lines as well as the secondary and the inside linebacker room, which is nearly entirely different from last year. The results have been positive so far.
Even well into the regular season and beyond, there are going to be plenty of questions that need answered. When will the core rookies get to play, or even start? Is the depth sufficient where they upgraded? Can they stand toe-to-toe with the Bengals and the other top teams in the league? We’ll try to frame the conversation in relevant ways as long as you stick with us throughout the season, as we have for many years.
Question: Was Chris Boswell snubbed for the Pro Bowl over Justin Tucker?
Justin Tucker, the 34-year-old kicker for the Baltimore Ravens, is widely and rightly regarded as the greatest at his position in football history. He holds the all-time record for accuracy and also helped to raise standards for what is expected of kickers with respect to range.
He has made the Pro Bowl and/or been named a first-team All-Pro every single season since 2016—except 2017, the year that Steelers K Chris Boswell earned the Pro Bowl nod over him. Although Tucker was still the second-team All-Pro kicker that year, going 34 for 37 with five makes from 50-plus, he got passed over.
Yet he has made the Pro Bowl each of the past two seasons while averaging 86 percent. Granted, last year he led the league in makes with 37, including nine from 50-plus. But this year is different. He is only 31 for 36 overall and has been awful from distance, making just one of five.
In contrast, Boswell is 28 for 30 overall and has six makes from 50-plus (his third consecutive year with that many or more) out of seven attempts. You can point out that Tucker, like Boswell, only has one miss from inside 50, but Boswell has been successful from range, and frankly, the Steelers have needed him more than the Ravens have needed Tucker.
Yet it’s not just a conversation of Tucker vs. Boswell. Boswell actually only ranks fifth in the AFC in field goal percentage this year at 93.3, behind Nick Folk (29 for 30, 96.7 percent, with five from 50-plus), Ka’imi Fairbairn (26 for 27, 96.3 percent, with four from 50-plus), Greg Zuerlein (32 for 34, 94.1 percent, with five from 50-plus), and Harrison Butker (31 for 33, 93.9 percent, with 5 from 50-plus).
So truth be told, Boswell doesn’t really stand out from the pack this year. A strong case can be made that Tucker didn’t deserve the Pro Bowl nod for 2023, but should it have been Boswell to get it? Or Folk? Or Fairbairn? Or Butker?
