column
The 6th NFL game day
An opera singer kicks Baltimore to victory and an ancient record cannot be broken again
The man with the golden foot: Justin Tucker is considered the best kicker in the NFL.
© Dylan Buell/Getty Images/AFP
Baltimore’s Justin Tucker not only has a delicate voice, but also an accurate foot – the kicker demonstrated this again on Sunday. Meanwhile, the NFL continues to wait for a 51-year-old record to be broken.
Anja Driver and Mona Stevens
The player of the match day:
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. He alone contributed 18 points. 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.
The one considered the best kicker NFL-traded Tucker 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.
Anja Driver (left) plays as a wide receiver for the Erlangen Rebels and the German national team (tackle and flag). With the national team she won the bronze medal at the European Championships in 2015 and the European Championship silver medal in flag football in 2017. The sports and Latin teacher previously played football for 25 years, including for SV 67 Weinberg in the second women’s Bundesliga. Since 2023, she has also been working as offensive coordinator on the coaching team of the newly founded U17 girls national flag football team.
Mona Stevens plays for the “Saarland Ladycanes” and the German women’s national football team (flag and tackle) in the quarterback position. Stevens has also served as the NFL’s official flag football ambassador since 2022. The Saarland native is part of the RTL NFL on-air team and can be seen in numerous formats as a football expert.
© Private
In London, Lamar Jackson served Zay Flowers, the rookie wide receiver Ravens, for the first touchdown of his young career and also with the Titans, only superstar running back Derrick Henry reached the end zone once. Three additional field goals for Tennessee from kicker Nick Folk and an injured Ryan Tannehill, who previously threw for 76 yards at a 50 percent pass rate and was replaced by Malik Willis for the final quarter, failed to secure a win for the Titans. 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 down to secure the contested first place in the AFC North with this victory.
NFL Game Day Surprise – Part 1:
After the fifth game day, 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 is out due to a shoulder injury . Not good conditions to survive against the 49ers. However, they had a very dark 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 twelve 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 surprise of the match day – part 2:
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 to secure 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.