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Jamison Hensley, ESPN Staff Writer
OWINGS MILLS, Md. — Baltimore Ravens kicker Justin Tucker made clear Wednesday that no one is more upset about his uncharacteristic struggles than him.
Tucker’s six missed field goals this season are tied for second most in the NFL, ranking behind only Atlanta’s Younghoe Koo (seven misses). A seven-time Pro Bowl player, Tucker is 16-of-22 (72.7%), his worst conversion rate through 11 games in his 13-year career.
“Believe me when I say nobody takes it more personally than I do, nobody is more affected than me when I miss the kick,” Tucker said. “So yeah, I take it really personally. At the exact same time, my particular line of work requires in my opinion that I compartmentalize my feelings. I leave them to the side and I focus on the action of kicking the ball and not the consequence.
“So as difficult as that may be at times, that is the challenge that I’m facing right now. That’s my only option, is just continue to work and focus on the action, focus on the process and let the results take care of themselves after just putting in the work.”
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It’s surprising when Tucker has this many misses at this point of a season. It’s even more surprising by how he’s missing his kicks.
In his previous two seasons combined (2022 and 2023), Tucker has missed wide left twice. This season, he has been wide left on all six of his misses.
“The adjustment is pretty clear,” Tucker said. “I just need to make it a point not to let the ball carry to the left. So that’s something that we’re going to continue working on in practice.”
Tucker isn’t the only usually dependable kicker slumping this season. Koo, who entered the season as the fourth-most-accurate kicker in NFL history, has missed seven field goal attempts.
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Michael Rothstein, ESPN Staff Writer
The metal sheet that fell to the surface of AT&T Stadium before Monday night’s Dallas Cowboys-Houston Texans game was a covering lid to a cable tray, and crews determined there were no structural issues, a city of Arlington spokeswoman told ESPN on Tuesday.
Communications coordinator Susan Schrock said the city, which owns the stadium, considered the matter closed and “no further inspection was needed.”
There were no injuries when the piece of metal fell. The Cowboys said in a statement a wind gust blew off the cable tray lid while the roof was opening over two hours before kickoff.
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“Our building inspector and our deputy fire marshal did talk to AT&T Stadium crews today and determined that there weren’t any structural issues with the venue or the roof,” Schrock said. “And that this was in fact just a piece of metal that was a covering lid to one of these cable trays that was blown off by a gust of wind.”
Schrock also said the Cowboys told the city they did additional reviews and work to “further secure the covering lids for those cable trays.”
Schrock said she was not sure when the trays were last inspected.
The last time the Cowboys opened the roof of their 15-year-old stadium for a game was Oct. 30, 2022.
ESPN reporter Todd Archer contributed to this report.
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DJ Bien-Aime
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- DJ Bien-Aime covers the Houston Texans for ESPN. He joined ESPN in July of 2022 after covering the New York Jets. He’s a former athlete who finished his college career at Louisville. You can catch DJ on ESPN Radio on his show, “Talkin’ Texans.”
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Todd Archer
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- Todd Archer is an NFL reporter at ESPN and covers the Dallas Cowboys. Archer has covered the NFL since 1997 and Dallas since 2003. He joined ESPN in 2010. You can follow him on Twitter at @toddarcher.
ARLINGTON, Texas — The Houston Texans defeated the Dallas Cowboys 34-10 at AT&T Stadium for the first time in franchise history Monday and snapped a two-game losing streak.
The Texans were fueled by running back Joe Mixon’s three rushing touchdowns and 109 rushing yards.
They jumped out to a 14-0 lead in the first quarter, and their defense carried them for the rest of the game. Houston sacked Cowboys quarterback Cooper Rush five times, intercepted him once and scored a touchdown on a strip sack.
The win puts the Texans two games ahead of the Indianapolis Colts, whom they have already beaten twice, in the AFC South, and their next two games are against the two-win Tennessee Titans and Jacksonville Jaguars.
Here are the most important things to know from Monday night for both teams:
Pivotal play: The defense put the game away in an unusual way early in the fourth quarter. Defensive end Seven weeks of misery remain in the Cowboys’ season, but their losing streak continues. Despite the Cowboys dropping their fifth straight, the season isn’t over mathematically. But what gives you hope that things can turn around? Quarterback
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DJ Bien-Aime, ESPN
HOUSTON — Nico Collins knows what’s at stake as he’s set to make his much-anticipated return to the football field after missing five games with a right hamstring injury.
Playing on prime time also gives him a “great opportunity” to remind the world what type of receiver he was before the injury.
“[I] got to go out there and take advantage of my opportunities,” Collins said. “In order to pick back up, I got to ball out when the ball touches my hands. When the ball is in the air, I have to do something with it.”
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• THE TEXANS’ OFFENSE ranked sixth in total offense (376.6 yards per game) with Collins, but that dipped to 299 yards (24th) without the fourth-year receiver — and that’s with running back
The Texans also lost their second-leading receiver, Stefon Diggs, to a torn ACL in his right knee in Week 8 against the Indianapolis Colts. But even with Diggs, following Collins’ injury, Stroud averaged 187 passing yards from Weeks 6-8 and had a career-low 86 yards in the Texans’ 24-22 loss to the Green Bay Packers in Week 7. “I am very excited to have my guy back,” Stroud said. “I am just happy for him to be back with the team, be a part of the locker room again. They are in solitude, when players are injured, they are on their own. So I am glad he is just able to be around the guys again and be able to do the sport that he loves to play.” Wide receiver Tank Dell became the top target when Diggs and Collins were out, and Dell had 11 catches for 165 yards in the past two games. With Collins returning, Dell can slide into the No. 2 role, which could make life easier for him because Collins “opens up the offense.” “Nico brings a lot to the table,” Dell told ESPN. “Defenses have to account for him. You got to have eyes on him at all times. That just opens up things not only for the receivers but the run game.” MISSING COLLINS ISN’T the only reason for the offensive woes. The Texans’ pass block win rate during his absence of 54.8 ranks 23rd, which is why Stroud has been under pressure on 46.8% of his dropbacks, second-most among starters. Get exclusive access to thousands of premium articles a year from top writers. 0:30 MNF Trailer: Texans vs. Cowboys Get ready for an electric Week 11 Monday Night Football clash when the Texans take on the Cowboys.
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Coming into Week 11, quarterbacks against the Cowboys are averaging the second-highest passer rating (105.1) in the NFL, and they are allowing 210 passing yards per game (17th). They also allow 362.9 total yards per game (26th) and 28.8 points per game (second most).
But as much as Collins’ return to the field will be appreciated by his teammates, his absence taught him to appreciate his opportunities.
“You don’t know when it’s going to be your last game, you don’t know what it is,” Collins told ESPN. “I came out there strong the first four weeks, then boom [injured], out of nowhere. Now I’m missing time, just realizing this s— is not for long. You have to do whatever you can to give it your all.”
