BALTIMORE -- The Dallas Cowboys have Dak Prescott and Ezekiel Elliott. The New England Patriots have Tom Brady. And the Seattle Seahawks have Russell Wilson.
For the Baltimore Ravens, the player who continually comes through time and time again is kicker Justin Tucker. Sure, you wouldn't normally hear Tucker's name in the same conversation as those players. But on a team devoid of consistent playmakers, Tucker is the clear-cut Most Valuable Player on the first-place Ravens.
The strong-legged star is the reason the Ravens (6-5) ended a five-game losing streak to the Cincinnati Bengals and sit atop the AFC North (they're technically ahead of the Steelers due to the head-to-head tiebreaker). The NFL's only perfect kicker allowed Baltimore to keep control of its playoff fate with five weeks remaining.
"That is the Raven way," Tucker said. "If you want to win, you want the ball in your hands, or in my case, at your feet."
In Sunday's 19-14 victory, Tucker nearly matched the Bengals' scoring, and would have if Baltimore hadn't given up a game-ending safety. He became the first kicker in three years to hit three field goals from 50 or more yards in a single game. He hit from 52, 57 and 54 yards in the first half and added a 36-yarder in the fourth quarter.
How impressive has Tucker been? He's even getting shout-outs from the most accomplished athlete in Olympic history.
"We got the best kicker in the league, there's no doubt about it," linebacker Terrell Suggs said. "But we've got to keep the young kid humble."
Tucker is one of the biggest characters in the Ravens' locker room. He stars on a couple of local commercials, dances after big kicks and sings opera in seven different languages (he's been known to do so in the team's showers, too).
When asked if there is any way the Ravens can keep Tucker humble, quarterback Joe Flacco smiled and said, "There's no way. He's earned the right to feel the way that he feels about himself."
Tucker's game is magnified by how he bailed out his teammates. An unnecessary roughness penalty on Steve Smith Sr. in the first quarter pushed back his first attempt 15 yards, and Tucker still delivered with a 52-yarder. A quarter later, Flacco ran out of bounds on third down for a 5-yard loss, but Tucker fought to kick a season-long 57-yarder.
Ravens coach John Harbaugh said he initially thought about punting until Tucker lobbied to take a shot at it.
"I just kind of ran out there [on to the field] and figured they would have to drag me off if they didn't want me to kick it," Tucker said.
Kicking proved to be a big difference in the game. Bengals kicker Mike Nugent missed an extra point, and the Bengals didn't attempt a field goal from 55 yards early in the third quarter.
This game represented the greatest improvement in Tucker's game. He is now 7-for-7 from 50 or more yards this season. He was 8-of-19 from that distance the previous two seasons.
The Ravens sputtered offensively Sunday, as they've done for most of the season. Their defense made some uncharacteristic errors and made it interesting until the final minute of the game by allowing the Bengals to drive into the red zone before a strip sack by Ravens linebacker Elvis Dumervil.
But Tucker hasn't erred on a field goal since Dec. 6, 2015. He has converted 34 field goals in a row, which is the longest current streak in the NFL.
The Ravens made Tucker the highest-paid kicker in the NFL last offseason. Heading into the stretch run, it has proved to be Baltimore's best move of the year.
"To be on this sort of roll that we are on now is good, but it doesn't end today," Tucker said. "Hopefully this is something that would help carry our team all the way to the playoffs and hopefully to a championship."