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Is Chris Boswell the answer for the Steelers?

By Tommy Jaggi

PITTSBURGH, PA - NOVEMBER 08: Chris Boswell #9 of the Pittsburgh Steelers greets fans as he leaves the field after the game against the Oakland Raiders at Heinz Field on November 8, 2015 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Jared Wickerham/Getty Images)
PITTSBURGH, PA - NOVEMBER 08: Chris Boswell #9 of the Pittsburgh Steelers greets fans as he leaves the field after the game against the Oakland Raiders at Heinz Field on November 8, 2015 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Jared Wickerham/Getty Images) /
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The Steelers haven’t had a lot of great kickers in the past decade or so of football. So when Pittsburgh stumbled upon Chris Boswell they thought they found a gem.

At first, that’s exactly what Boswell was.

Chris Boswell was once refereed to by fans as ‘The Wizard of Boz.’ He was flat-out impressive, and he showed up big in the clutch.

Boswell got his career rolling in his first year – making 29 of the 32 field goals he attempted (90.6 percent). Though 2016 wasn’t as spectacular (21 of 25), he was still one of the better kickers in the league.

In 2017, Boswell earned his place among the ‘Killer B’s.’ The Wizard of Boz nailed 35 of 38 kicks and was 4 of 4 from beyond 50 yards. He was also one of the best in the league in big moments – knocking through a handful of crucial 4th quarter kicks.

However, things took a drastic turn in 2018, where Boswell plummeted from 92 percent accuracy all the way down to 65 percent. Boswell connected on only 13 of 21 kicks and missed 5 point-after attempts in the process.

It got so bad that they Steelers sometimes elected to go for it on 4th down, just so Chris Boswell didn’t have to kick. The Wizard of Boz was no more.

The Steelers recently cut kicker Matt McCrane. Though we could see that he was never going to be the answer for Pittsburgh, it got me thinking about Boswell again, and how the mighty have fallen.

The Steelers would probably like to cut Boswell loose, but that is not an option at this point in time.

Before his awful season in 2018, Pittsburgh made Boswell one of the highest paid kickers in the league and the 10th highest paid player on the Steelers.

Because of the way his contract was structured, the Steelers would stand to lose $2.6M if they cut Boswell before June 1st. If Pittsburgh cut him after June 1st, they could save $1M, but would still lose $3.2M in dead money.

Whether we like it or not, Boswell needs to be the answer for the Steelers. All we can hope for is that he can revert back to the 2017 version of himself this year.

Next. Is Head Coach Mike Tomlin in the hot seat?. dark

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