Browns three X factors on special teams versus Ravens

Justin Tucker — Another superstar bird worth hating

No doubt Browns fans are tired of reading about how talented the Baltimore Ravens are, but it is true on both offense and defense, and it doesn’t stop there. Kicker Justin Tucker is a superstar on special teams for the Ravens.

By the way, on the subject of hate, this has been a long summer in America. So, to be clear, the Ravens/Browns rivalry is the most intense football rivalry that there is. I expect that the Browns players will be intensely jealous of the success that the Baltimore players have had and ever mindful of the fact that their franchise had its beginnings in Cleveland.

But this is not a personal kind of hatred, certainly not to the player’s family or anything off the field.

But now that that is out of the way, wow, if you are going to hate the Browns division opponents for being so good, Tucker makes the list.

Tucker is a four-time All-Pro with a 90.8 percent average on field goals and a ridiculous 99.0 percent average on extra points. He’s known as the most accurate kicker in NFL history (min. 100 attempts, and has a 61-yard field goal to his credit. At this rate, he will be a candidate for the Hall of Fame. Really, it’s enough to make Swagger, Jr. upchuck his doggie biscuits.

Still, Denzel Ward blocked a Justin Tucker field goal attempt in 2018, and Briean Boddy-Calhoun got him in 2017.  So it is possible to beat even the great ones.

The Browns have to control the ball at the end of the game. Don’t give the Ravens the ball back with a chance to use Tucker to make a kick at the end of the game, because he will.