The Pittsburgh Steelers’ Chris Boswell has an argument to make as the best kicker in the NFL. He earned just his second Pro Bowl selection after leading the NFL in scoring, following a remarkable season. Yet perhaps the most remarkable thing about his season is the fact that his greatest accomplishment is already unremarkable.
Prior to the start of the 2024 season, the NFL all-time record for successful 50-yard field goals in a season was 11. Boswell finished the season with 13—but so did two others. In fact, four kickers in total made 12 or more field goals, and Boswell didn’t make the most.
The new NFL record for most 50-yard field goals in a season belongs to Cowboys K Brandon Aubrey. And he actually only needed 15 games. In the Cowboys’ Week 15 game, he connected on three field goals of 50-plus yards, giving him 14. He only attempted one more over the final two weeks but missed. Boswell made his 13th in Week 18.
At 13, Boswell tied with Houston Texans K Ka’imi Fairbairn for the second-most 50-yard field goals in a season. And fourth place belongs to Jason Sanders of the Miami Dolphins, completely re-writing the record book.
For Brandon Aubrey, he is now 24-for-27 from 50-plus in his career. That is a stellar 88.9 percent, the best success rate ever by any kicker with 20-plus such attempts. Chris Boswell is in second place at 82.7 percent, but with considerably more attempts. After this past season, Boswell is now 43-for-52 from 50-plus, going 13-for-15 in 2024.
Over the past four seasons, the Steelers have trusted Boswell from distance much, much more often. In his first six seasons, he only attempted 12 field goals of 50-plus yards. Given that he made more than that just this year alone, I think the point is obvious. In the past four years, though, he has 40 attempts from 50-plus, making 34 at an 85-percent rate.
But it seems Boswell is merely part of the golden age of the kicker, a year in which four players broke the same record. In any other season, what Boswell did this year would have been astounding. Now it’s just what the really good kickers are expected to do.
More broadly speaking, Chris Boswell is also the fourth-most accurate kicker in NFL history. For his career, he has an 88.026-percent success rate, narrowly behind Eddy Piñeiro. He is placed more distantly from the top two names, however, of Justin Tucker and Harrison Butker. Both have made over 88.6 percent of their kicks, with Tucker over 89 percent.
Even at the risk of his accomplishment becoming commonplace, we still shouldn’t take Boswell for granted. There is a reason he is representing the AFC in the Pro Bowl this year, after all. Having gone 41-for-44, including one blocked kick, and 35-for-35 on extra points, the Steelers believe in the Wizard of Boz.
