First Call: Justin Tucker says playing surface not 'ideal' after missed kicks; Bill Cowher breaks Buffalo tailgating table

Monday’s “First Call” shows former Steelers coach Bill Cowher smashing a table in typical Buffalo tailgating fashion. Baltimore’s Justin Tucker tries to explain away his missed kicks at Acrisure Stadium. John Harbaugh and Lamar Jackson look for reasons as to why the Ravens can’t get out of their own way whenever they see black and gold.

Plus, a Duquesne wide receiver makes the national highlights on ESPN while picking up a huge win for the school.

Cowher Power

CBS aired its NFL pregame show from Buffalo in advance of Sunday’s big showdown between the Bills and Kansas City Chiefs. The on-air crew closed out the broadcast by engaging in the Buffalo tailgating tradition of smashing tables.

Yes, even 67-year-old former Steelers coach Bill Cowher.

THE NFL TODAY BREAKS THE TABLES pic.twitter.com/CzB9UDAGdl

— NFL on CBS ???? (@NFLonCBS) November 17, 2024

Buffalo went on to win the game 30-21. That ruined the Chiefs’ bid for an unbeaten season. They fell to 9-1. Buffalo improved to 9-2.

‘Field’ing questions

Baltimore Ravens kicker Justin Tucker was asked about his two missed field goals during his team’s 18-16 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday.

A reporter wanted to know if Tucker felt like the field conditions at Acrisure Stadium were poor after Pitt and Clemson had played there Saturday.

“I wouldn’t say the surface was an issue, but it wasn’t ideal,” Tucker said via team postgame transcript. “That’s something that we make it a point to account for by going out there in pregame warmups and getting our feet under us, figuring out what the wind may (be) doing. But we’ve dealt with that plenty of times here, elsewhere, at home. Throughout the course of the game, the most action takes place in between the hashes, and it naturally just gets chewed up.”

Well, it wasn’t too chewed up for Tucker when he made a 54-yarder after his earlier misses. And if the field conditions were less than ideal, it certainly didn’t bother Pittsburgh’s Chris Boswell. He buried six kicks, including three from beyond 50 yards.

“Tuck needs to make kicks,” head coach John Harbaugh said. “He knows that. That’s important.”

Tucker has missed six kicks so far this season. He only missed five kicks all of last season.

Got some ‘splainin’ to do

Harbaugh spent a lot of time explaining a lot of things beyond Tucker on Monday.

One question he was asked was if there was some confusion on the failed two-point play that could’ve tied the game at 18-18.

“Not that I’m aware of,” Harbaugh said. “I’ll have to look at it on tape and talk to the coaches, but not that I was aware of. Nothing was talked about during the game, and I didn’t see it.”

STEELERS DENY THE GAME-TYING 2-PT CONVERSION.

????: #BALvsPIT on CBS/Paramount+
????: https://t.co/waVpO8ZBqG pic.twitter.com/Vzrz2wUyIu

— NFL (@NFL) November 17, 2024

Harbaugh was also asked if there was some thought of just giving the ball to star running back Derrick Henry.

“We’ve talked about that stuff before. We have two-point plays called. We called one. They called (a) timeout. We called the next one,” Harbaugh said.

Harbaugh also addressed some second-guessing about his decision to attempt an offensive drive with just 38 seconds remaining. Their first snap resulted in a fumble after a reception by Isaiah Likely.

BIG PLAY PQ‼️ @Patrickqueen_

???? Stream on NFL+: https://t.co/COxKRnr6Mc pic.twitter.com/7Nyt40chKD

— Pittsburgh Steelers (@steelers) November 17, 2024

“You can’t take a knee there. They have three timeouts. You take a knee, they’re calling timeouts, (and then) you’re punting from your own 12-yard line or whatever it was. So you have to try to get at least a good play to start so they don’t call their timeouts. It was just a fumble.”

That turnover led to Boswell’s third field goal of the afternoon and a 9-7 Steelers advantage at halftime.

In their heads

The victory was Pittsburgh’s fourth in a row against Baltimore. Jackson was asked if there was “mental pressure” when it comes to trying to beat the Steelers.

“Yes,” Jackson admitted. “If anything, we’re just too hyped at the beginning. Because I believe when we settle down, we start making things happen. In this type of game, it’s a momentum game, it was swinging for both teams. And those guys had the best swing at the end.”

Baltimore’s 16-14 victory at Acrisure Stadium in 2022 is the only win for the franchise in its last nine tries against the Steelers. That was the game when an injured Kenny Pickett gave way to backup Mitch Trubisky, and Trubisky threw three interceptions.

Meanwhile, the Steelers lost to the QB combination of Tyler Huntley and Anthony Brown, as Jackson missed that game due to injury.

Jumpin’ John

Duquesne wide receiver John Erby made the best play of the Dukes’ 42-21 victory over Wagner on Saturday.

His leaping one-handed snag gave the team a 35-14 lead in the third quarter.

JOHN. ERBY.#SCTop10 | @ESPNAssignDesk pic.twitter.com/5sx8T8uy1J

— Duquesne Football (@DuqFB) November 16, 2024

The grad transfer from Rhode Island made a big enough impression that his catch was plastered all over highlight segments from ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPNU.

Erby and the Dukes locked up a share of the NEC championship with that victory. They play Central Connecticut State on Saturday.

The Blue Devils had an unreal highlight of their own Saturday to beat Robert Morris in double overtime and keep their playoff hopes alive.

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⬅️ Elijah Howard for the tie.
➡️ Game-winning 2-pt conversion.@ccsu_fb WINS in 2OT and will host Duquesne for #NECFB's AQ to the @NCAA_FCS Playoffs next weekend. pic.twitter.com/XKbKDpxLV1

— NEC Football (@NECFootball) November 16, 2024

Duquesne enters the game in New Britain at 5-0 in conference play. CCSU is 4-1. The winner of that game claims the conference’s berth in the FCS playoffs.