The Pittsburgh Steelers have something that teams spend years looking for. While many organizations struggle to find a consistent, quality kicker, Chris Boswell has spent most of his career making a case for holding the title of the best at his position throughout the league. He is currently sixth all-time in NFL history in field goal accuracy, and still has time to move up the list. Despite his age, the team has no doubt that he can continue to be this game-changing "serial killer," as it gave him a massive extension to keep him in the Steel City.
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Steelers' Chris Boswell attempts a field goal while playing the Cleveland Browns during the 2024 season.
He has been a major reason why the Steelers have won a bunch of games. Boswell opened up the 2025 season with a 60-yard field goal late in the fourth quarter to win in Week 1. The year before, Pittsburgh had two separate games where he scored all 18 points. He was on pace to shatter the all-time single-season points record before the offense crumbled in the final month.
The Steelers have never had this kind of accuracy before, and it's amazing to see. In a conversation with Chris Harlan of TribLive, fellow special teamer Christian Kuntz explained his point of view of Boswell's success and how he is able to kick so well.
"Every time I snap and then look up, it's like, 'Where’s the ball?' It’s halfway up the field goal post, and we’re at midfield," Kuntz said. "It’s kind of remarkable that he’s able to manipulate a ball like that and kick it how he wants and where he wants. That’s why he’s the best kicker in the world."
Being able to manipulate this non-spherical ball with your foot and make it do whatever you want is an art form that few kickers have truly mastered. Boswell has figured that out, and the result is him shattering nearly every single team record in that facet. Without him, Pittsburgh's streak of consecutive non-losing seasons would have definitely been broken by now.
What truly makes this impressive is where he does most of his kicking. Heinz Field / Acrisure Stadium is notorious for being a kicker's worst nightmare, as the crosswinds can take any ball kicked from long range and throw it away from the goalposts. Prior to Boswell, the longest field goal ever made at this specific arena was 53 yards. He has repeatedly broken that record.
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Steelers' star kicker Chris Boswell kicks a 60-yard field goal to help Pittsburgh take down the New York Jets in Week 1 of the 2025 season.
The current record for longest field goal made by an away kicker is 54 yards. Even the best kickers of all time have walked into Pittsburgh and had nightmare games. Even past field goal specialists for the Steelers have been unable to figure out the crosswinds. Boswell has not only figured out the crosswinds, but he has mastered the art of kicking into these swirling winds, something that not many other NFL players have ever been able to do.
Steelers' Disastrous Kicking Situation Led To Boswell's Arrival
In the Hall of Fame Game of 2015, the Steelers were trotting out Shaun Suisham to kick. However, the horrific turf in Canton caused him to tear his ACL and miss the season. His backup in preseason, former Super Bowl champion Garrett Hartley, also suffered an injury in the preseason. That led to Pittsburgh making a desperate trade that went poorly.
The Steelers began the 2015 regular season with one of the best kickers in Jacksonville Jaguars history. As Josh Scobee quickly learned, kicking in Pittsburgh is much different than in Florida. He was terrible and got cut after just four weeks. In a desperate attempt to salvage the season from a field goal standpoint, the team brought in the undrafted Boswell, and the rest is history.
What do you think about Boswell being able to manipulate the ball like no other kicker can? Let us know on X at @Steelers_ChrisB.
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