First Call: Where Steelers’ Chris Boswell ranks among NFL kickers; Pirates host hot division-leading Brewers
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In Thursday’s “First Call,” we find out where Steelers kicker Chris Boswell ranks among the best at his position in the NFL — and within his own division.
A former WPIAL star is looking to imprint his team’s NFL success a bit more this season.
And the Pirates may be getting the Milwaukee brewers at a bad time.
Come to think of it, is it ever a good time for the Pirates to get the Brewers?
Boz second-best
CBS Sports came out with its list of top kickers in the NFL. And Chris Boswell of the Steelers ranked second behind Baltimore’s Justin Tucker.
As CBS’ John Breech writes, “Back in 2018, nearly everyone in Pittsburgh wanted to see the Steelers release Boswell after a disastrous season where he hit just 65% of his field goals. The Steelers decided to keep their kicker despite the plea from fans, and the gamble definitely paid off because Boswell has been one of the best kickers in the NFL over the past three years. Boswell has hit 90% or more of his field goals in each of the past three seasons, which makes him the ONLY kicker in the NFL who has pulled that off.”
Now we’ll see when Boswell’s success translates into a new contract. He is entering the final year of his current deal, which counts $4.9 million against the cap.
Another AFC North kicker, Evan McPherson of the Cincinnati Bengals ranked ninth. I thought he’d be even higher than that based on his clutch kicks last year. In fact, I wouldn’t have been surprised if Tucker, Boswell and McPherson were all in the top 3.
More from Miles?
Woodland Hills alum Miles Sanders averaged a career-best 5.5 yards per carry for the Philadelphia Eagles last year.
But that still only translated into 137 carries. In part, that’s because the Penn State product missed five games last year. He only played in 12 during the 2020 season as well.
Sanders told John Clark of NBC Sports Philadelphia that he knows consistency is important to his 2022 impact. But he also wants more opportunities to touch the ball.
“Being more consistent. I’m going to be honest, opportunities. I’ll just say it simple like that. I need to be more consistent, but I need opportunities”
-Miles Sanders when I asked him what he needs to do to be the best
????Podcast with Miles Sanders????https://t.co/2DH3zYwmfw pic.twitter.com/BvuhUlRTcl
— John Clark (@JClarkNBCS) June 29, 2022
Sanders averaged 15 touches over his first three NFL seasons. He had 251 rushing yards combined during back-to-back rushing games in Weeks 12 and 13. But he missed most of the last three regular season games thanks to a hand injury against the Giants in Week 16.
Brew Crew news
After an 8-7 win against the Washington Nationals halted a losing streak at five games, the Pirates head back home to host the Milwaukee Brewers. It’s a four-game series starting Thursday as Pirates right-hander J.T. Brubaker pitches against Adrian Houser.
The Brewers come in hot, winning four in a row and five-of-six. Milwaukee is 1 ½ games in front of St. Louis for the top spot in the NL Central and 13 games in front of the third place Pirates.
Former Pirates MVP Andrew McCutchen finally cooled off during Wednesday’s 5-3 win over the Tampa Bay Rays. Cutch went 0-4, snapping a six-game hitting streak that also saw him launch three home runs.
Milwaukee is 6-0 against the Pirates this year, outscoring the Buccos 33-16 along the way.
Ex-Pirates in pinstripes
Jameson Taillon got another win for the New York Yankees Wednesday, his ninth against just one loss. Taillon gave up three earned runs in just five innings against the Oakland A’s, but it was good enough for the victory as New York won 5-3.
His ERA climbed from 3.19 to 3.32.
Clay Holmes came on for yet another save. It’s his 14th in 15 tries. He worked a perfect ninth to see his ERA drop to 0.49.
Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton both homered for New York.
#AllRise for a 429 ft blast ????⚖️ pic.twitter.com/iWAIvNzVbb
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) June 29, 2022
Just anotha' day for Big G ????
????️: https://t.co/eDVN5twbyd pic.twitter.com/2XGGzesc65
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) June 29, 2022
It was the 29th for Judge and the 19th for Stanton. The Yankees are now a MLB-best 56-20. They come to PNC Park on July 5-6.