One of the more exciting Week 3 matchups was between the Baltimore Ravens and Detroit Lions, which ended in a last-second victory and an NFL record for one Baltimore player.
With three seconds remaining in the game and a 17-16 lead for Detroit, Ravens kicker Justin Tucker attempted an NFL-record 66-yard field goal. His kicked bounced off the field goal posts, toppled towards the stands behind them, and gave Baltimore a walk-off victory.
Tucker put himself in the records books as having the longest field goal made in NFL history, breaking Matt Prater’s previous record of 64 yards while with the Denver Broncos in 2013.
While the record being broken and given the exciting circumstances it was done in were very impressive, what this is really about is what one Ravens coach said after the game in regards to who he believes can break Tucker’s newly-set record.
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Toub: I Believe Butker Can Break It
During his press conference on Thursday, September, 30, Kansas City Chiefs assistant head coach and special coordinator Dave Toub spoke of Tucker’s NFL record, noting how he believes Chiefs kicker own Harrison Butker can break that record, and a coach from the Ravens backed him on that.
“I know Butker can be in that range and on the right day he’d have a real shot at it in the right situation. But it’s not surprising that (Justin) Tucker got the record,” Toub said. “He is a great kicker, he’s got a great mindset and his leg is so strong, but Butker – if there’s one guy that can do it and break the record, it’s Harrison. Even their coach told me that because I congratulated the coach and he told me that very thing, ‘your guy can break it’ and in the right situation I believe he can.”
Butker Made Tied Previous Record in Practice
While it was only done in practice, Butker did make a kick that would have tied the previous NFL record held by Prater.
As shown by a video shared on the Chiefs’ Twitter page, head coach Andy Reid walked up to Toub and told him that he would give Butker one kick, and if he made the field goal the team would have a day off prior to the team’s regular-season opener against the Cleveland Browns.
The kick was a 64-yard field goal, which in an actual game would have been tied for the NFL record held by Prater. Butker’s longest field goal ever in a game is 58 yards, which he did twice against the Los Angeles Chargers in 2020 in a single game, per the Chiefs website.
Butker lined up the kick in practice with the weight of a day off for his team on his shoulders, and nailed it.
Through three weeks of the regular season, Butker has made all three of his field-goal attempts, along with all 11 point after touchdown attempts. His longest field goal made this season so far was 43-yard attempt, per Pro Football Reference.
Butker has kicked off a total of 18 times, recording 15 touched backs and has averaged 64.5 yards per kickoff.
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