How much more patience should the Steelers have with Chris Boswell?
On a recent episode of the Steel City Underground podcast, I had mentioned that the placekicker position may become as important as the quarterback position. Next, to being a team’s signal-caller, I’m of the opinion that no other individual position, even in a “team sport”, can have as big of an impact on the final outcome.
Following the Steelers 24-21 loss to the Oakland Raiders on Sunday, I’m leaning toward this opinion now more than ever: and of course, that’s because of the recent play of Steelers kicker Chris Boswell. This offseason Pittsburgh came to terms with Boswell on a five-year contract in the ballpark of $20 million. This was in response to Boswell being nearly automatic on every kick he’s attempted since joining the team in 2015. “Boz” was so good that many started calling him a “Killer B” too: as a homage to those players who have a “B” for one of their initials on the offensive side of the ball.
In short, Chris Boswell was a weapon in a league bent on making it more difficult for kickers to ply their trade. In the instance where you find a good one, you want to retain them. Around the league, we’ve witnessed kickers miss PAT’s and field goals which cost their team games. In much the same way I’d argue there aren’t 32 “starting” quarterbacks in the NFL, there aren’t 32 “starting” kickers either.
However, in 2018 Boswell is snake bitten. He has missed six field goal attempts and five extra points with three games left to go this season: far from the mark for a newly minted player who was about to hit free agency.
Those misses could be as much to blame as the rest of the “team” elements to the sport of football. A costly miss against the Cleveland Browns in Week 1 resulted in a tie game that’s screwed up the Steelers in the league standings in regard to tiebreakers, etc. Make that kick, and Pittsburgh sits at 8-5.
A larger disparity when it comes to margin of victory was the Steelers 42-37 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs: Boswell missed a field goal and an extra point in the home opener during Week 2, a swing of four points that could’ve flipped the script in regard to how Pittsburgh may have called plays and possibly had a chance to come back and win that game.
Boswell would miss both again in Week 3 against the Buccaneers, for another four points left on the field in a three-point victory.
A missed extra point meant nothing in a 41-17 route of the Atlanta Falcons, and Boswell would go perfect over the next two weeks before missing another extra point attempt against the Ravens. The Steelers would win by seven, but it wasn’t all that comfortable of a lead: make the PAT and life is a little tougher on Baltimore because they’re down eight at the end.
That appeared to be the end of Boswell’s woes as he nailed seven extra point attempts and a field goal against the Carolina Panthers and then went 2-for-2 against the Jaguars. However, during the Steelers three-game losing streak, Chris’ inconsistency has hit again.
The Pittsburgh placekicker missed an extra point in a seven-point loss to the Broncos, then a vital field goal in a three-point loss to the Chargers. I sound like a broken record, but in the case of the Los Angeles game, you can clearly see where those three points would’ve been helpful. In fact, a three-point lead may have forced the Chargers to be more aggressive in the game’s final drive, where anything can happen.
Instead, Philip Rivers and company drained the clock and settled to win off of the foot of their own specialist.
Obviously, Sunday’s game will remain embedded in the memories of Steelers fans for some time to come. Boswell followed in the path of one of his predecessors, Shaun Suisham, by being known as a consistently good kicker (sans earlier this year of course) who missed a pair of critical field goals which would’ve tilted the final score in the Steelers favor. Boz botched a field goal early on nearly missed an extra point, and then slipped and fell on Oakland Alameda Coliseum’s awful turf while attempting a game-tying field goal as time expired.
Pointing out that the Browns, Chargers, and Raiders games may have all had a different result (especially the Cleveland game) had Boswell converted on his attempts is a tough pill to swallow. In a game, rather a business, filled with pressure the heat is on for Boswell. There were calls for his job early in the season that dissipated but is now louder than ever as the Steelers season continues to slide and someone looks for a scapegoat for the franchise’s shortcomings.
Personally, I’m not sure how much more patience Pittsburgh should have for their placekicker. On one hand, you could easily give him his pink slip, but like quarterbacks, is the grass greener on the other side? Or will you end up with more of the same?
… or perhaps, worse?
Regardless, Chris Boswell’s has had as much of an impact, for better or worse, on the Steelers success as anyone else. It’s easy to remember the bad times as a player once mentioned in the same breath as Ben Roethlisberger and Antonio Brown goes through a rough patch. Forgotten are the times he single-handedly lifted the Steelers past the Chiefs in the playoffs or the multiple games where he put down the Bengals with his leg. There were three games last season, all in a row, where Boswell was responsible for game-winning field goals as time expired.
Those are the types of situations that can’t be taken for granted and that may best explain why the organization has been incredibly patient with Boswell’s poor performance as of late. Factor in the new contract (i.e. the amount of money they’re paying him) and it’s not so easy for the Steelers to just say “C’est la vie”. There may be others out there who can take the job, but the toughest question to answer is whether or not they’ll actually do a better job.
With Boswell, there’s a history of good which outweighs the bad. It’s easy to want to drop someone for a few bad games, but that’s not the Steelers way. (See: Ben Roethlisberger.) However, it’s up to Boswell to positively turn his ship around on this season or else he may be setting sail into the sunset soon.
