The Baltimore Ravens’ Man of the Match at the London Game is none other than kicker legend Justin Tucker. With six (!) converted field goals, he helped the Ravens win 24:16 against the Tennessee Titans. 18 of these points were due to him alone. But it wasn’t enough for Tucker to set a record. This is still held by Rob Bironas, who converted eight field goals in one game in 2007 – for the Tennessee Titans.
Tucker, considered the best kicker in the NFL, is also the highest-paid player in the NFL at his position with an annual salary of around six million dollars – fully deserved, as we saw on Sunday. But Tucker’s talents aren’t just in his feet: he’s also an opera singer and speaks seven languages.
In London, Lamar Jackson served Zay Flowers, the Ravens’ rookie wide receiver, for the first touchdown of his young career, and with the Titans only superstar running back Derrick Henry reached the end zone once. Three additional field goals for Tennessee by kicker Nick Folk and an injured Ryan Tannehill, who previously threw for 76 yards with a pass rate of 50 percent and was replaced by Malik Willis for the final quarter, kept the Titans from winning. Shortly before the end of the game, the Titans tried an onside kick, but it failed and Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson only had to kneel to secure the contested first place in the AFC North with this victory.
After the fifth day of play, the Philadelphia Eagles and the San Francisco 49ers were the only two undefeated teams in the NFL. On Sunday, both suffered their first defeat against supposedly weaker opponents: The Cleveland Browns, who started the season with two wins and two defeats, had to do without their quarterback Deshaun Watson for the second game in a row, who was out due to a shoulder injury . Not good conditions to survive against the 49ers. However, they had a pitch-black day: wide receiver Deebo Samuel and Christian McCaffrey, currently the best running back in the league, had to leave the field early with injuries.
Quarterback Brock Purdy only completed 12 of his 27 passes and in the final seconds of the game, kicker Moody also missed the game-winning field goal. A touchdown run and 4 field goals were enough for the Browns to win 19:17 in a rather mixed game. An impressive series ended for Brock Purdy: The 23-year-old, who was the very last player selected in the 2022 draft, lost an NFL game in which he was in the starting line-up for the first time after 15 wins in a row.
The Eagles probably never dreamed that they could have problems against the Jets, who had already been written off. Before the season, the New Yorkers were actually considered the secret favorites for the title before Aaron Rodgers, long-time quarterback of the Green Bay Packers and multiple times named the league’s most valuable player, tore his Achilles tendon in his first game for his new team. Since then, the Jets have fallen far short of their expectations.
On Sunday, two strong cornerbacks, the defensive pass defenders, were sidelined with concussions. Nevertheless, the Jets won one of the most important statistics (and therefore the entire game): turnovers. A turnover is an action in which the defense manages to intercept the quarterback’s pass or recover a ball dropped by the ball carrier. “Gang Green” benefited from such individual mistakes by the Eagles four times yesterday and surprisingly won 20:14 in the end.
This means that a legendary record will remain in place for another year. In 1972, the Miami Dolphins achieved what no team has done since: win the Super Bowl without losing a single season.
