When the Ravens are deciding whether to go for two or kick an extra point, one factor in favor of kicking is that they have the best kicker in NFL history, Justin Tucker, whose 98.5 percent success rate since extra points became more difficult in 2015 is the highest in the league in that time.
So some might have expected Tucker to lobby to be allowed to kick the extra point on Sunday, when Ravens coach John Harbaugh elected to go for two with the Ravens trailing the Packers by one point in the final minute. But Tucker says he completely agreed with Harbaugh’s decision.
“I fully support it,” Tucker told the team’s official podcast. “Everybody on our team fully supports going for two because you have the chance to put the game away right then and there.”
Tucker said he’s heard the controversy surrounding Harbaugh’s decision and enjoys the conversation but wouldn’t second-guess his coach.
“Of course, there is plenty of folks who have their opinions and comments about it,” Tucker said. “But it’s one of those things where, if you’re a part of it, a member of the team, if you’re in it, you just understand that is the move. You go for two and you put the game away. If it doesn’t work out, you pick up the pieces and you just move on.”
Where Harbaugh erred, however, was in sending Tucker out to kick the extra point when the Ravens scored a touchdown earlier in the fourth quarter to cut the deficit from 14 points to 8. If Harbaugh was going to go for two at all, he should have gone for two there, to try to cut the deficit to 6. That way, if the Ravens had scored the two, all they would have needed was Tucker’s extra point to win the game after their next touchdown. And if the Ravens had missed the two, they still could have tied the game with a two-point conversion after their next touchdown.
So Harbaugh’s decision-making was not ideal. Even if his kicker was fine with it.