Through two games, the Pittsburgh Steelers have scored 31 points, and 24 of them have come from the leg of Chris Boswell. It is troubling that the offense can’t finish drives in the end zone, but it is equally impressive that Boswell has been so automatic to start the season. Arthur Smith is still getting used to having a kicker of that caliber.
When the Steelers finished their opening drive in Week 1 at the 39-yard line, Arthur Smith assumed they would have to punt. Much to his surprise, Mike Tomlin sent out Boswell.
“I’ve been around a lot of great players and kickers, and certainly this isn’t a slight to anybody, but Boz is different than anybody I’ve been around,” Smith said in a video posted by TribLive’s Chris Adamski on X. “I was actually shocked that first drive in Atlanta, ’cause I was like, ‘Man I thought we would have to punt.’ And he said, ‘Call Boz in there.’
“That was pretty impressive. So, absolutely it can alter your play call.”
As Tomlin often says, football is their game and their business is winning. Sometimes, when you play to win, you can make decisions based on the flow of the game that sacrifice the opportunity to go for a touchdown to ensure that a field goal is possible. Those situations are more frequent when you have the most accurate kicker from 50-plus yards in NFL history.
Smith was asked if a kicker like Boswell, who is perfect on eight field-goal attempts through two games, can alter play calls in certain situations.
“That’s certainly a huge weapon we have here with Boz. And certainly, I’d also add the flow of the game, the way the defense has been playing, too, every game,” Smith said. “Clearly we need to score as many touchdowns as possible, and that’s always our objective, but you get in the flow of the game sometimes situationally, it can alter your play call.”
Obviously things like game situations will dictate those types of decisions, which Smith also talked about in the above clip. If your team is up by six points, a field goal will make it a two-possession game. If you get a 2nd and 20 just outside of field goal range after a holding penalty, for example, it might be prudent to call plays to ensure viable field goal range rather than attempt to convert and risk having to punt.
As long as Boswell keeps nailing field goals from 50-plus yards and the defense keeps scores down, these decisions are ultimately ones that help secure victory. At the end of the season, nobody looks at how many blowout victories you had. They look at the win-loss column, and the Steelers’ conservative approach has achieved 2-0 so far. Chris Boswell, in a way, is the linchpin of that approach.
