Steelers kicker Chris Boswell named AFC Special Teams Player of the Week

The Pittsburgh Steelers have experienced one of the strangest NFL seasons in 2015 after losing two placekickers, watching a third fail and be cut and a fourth come out solid and on top of the pack. During the preseason, Shaun Suisham was lost for the year due to a torn ACL after attempting to make a tackle. The Steelers reached out to Garrett Hartley who, just one game later, was forced out due to a hamstring injury. In a pinch, the Steelers traded a sixth-round pick to the Jacksonville Jaguars for their scoring leader, Josh Scobee. After missing two field goals in week one (a loss to the New England Patriots) and repeating the error in a week four loss to the Baltimore Ravens, Scobee was sent packing. The Steelers then found Chris Boswell, an untested rookie who had spent time with two other teams before finding himself in a spot on the Pittsburgh roster. After his week six performance, it doesn’t look like Boswell will be going anywhere soon. His performance earned him AFC Special Teams Player of the Week honors for week six.

In the Steelers’ 25-13 win over the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday, Boswell ran onto the turf in front of the hometown Heinz Field crowd and wowed them with four perfect field goals. His longest kick went for 51 yards. Boswell also make kicks of 48, 47 and 28 yards. His four field goals were the second time, since Suisham did so in a win over the Baltimore Ravens in October 2013, that a Steelers kicker has made a perfect four field goals in a single game.

Boswell is just one of ten NFL kickers to have made every field goal kicked this season and one of only nine to make every kick (with Robbie Gould missing an extra point). On Sunday, Boswell scored half of the points the Steelers put on the scoreboard against the Cardinals. His performance was remarkable after making his debut with the Steelers in week five against the San Diego Chargers after spending part of the preseason and last season with the Houston Texans and New York Giants but going relatively unknown and untested.

Following the game, Boswell was approached by members of the media and after admitting he made the kicks look easy, asked him if he was nervous or whether the win played into his performance. “I don’t really think too much when I kick. I just kick the ball the same, no matter where (I am),” said Boswell. “I didn’t really pay too much attention to the wind. I knew if I hit a good ball – end-over-end – that the wind wouldn’t affect it too much. So as long as I got good contact and good rotation, I just picked my spot.” Boswell felt good about his play, saying, “It (gave) me a good amount of confidence. Next week is a new week. I can’t just expect to ride this forever. I have to get back to work.”

(Note: This article originally posted on Examiner.com by author under different headline; used with permission)