Chris Boswell
Boswell is the Steelers' entrenched starting kicker on a new long-term deal. He had an uncharacteristically shaky first four weeks, then the latest wire note has him 2-for-2 on field goals and 4-for-4 on extra points in the 34-22 win over the Colts.
Role
He is the full-time placekicker and also handles kickoffs. He has no listed competition for the job in anything I read. Volume depends on how often Pittsburgh's drives stall in range. I did not fetch a depth chart or snap tracker, so I can't give a formal usage figure.
The misses look like a distance problem, not a collapse. Athlon (Oct 8) says they came from 48, 56 and 57 yards, and none were short kicks. Yahoo/Athlon and SteelerNation put his season at 7-of-10 through Week 4. The wire note adds 2-for-2 on field goals against the Colts. The Steelers extended him in May 2026, and the club's release puts his career field-goal rate at 87.7% over 11 seasons, including 41 of 44 in 2024. Optimists read the slow start as variance on long tries.
Skeptics point to a pattern at age 35. SteelerNation (Oct 8) called the start concerning and cited a Post-Gazette beat-writer observation about a trend. I read only the start of that piece and did not see the details. Athlon also noted a very close fourth miss on a Thursday night. The Week 4 miss against Cleveland came in a three-point loss. A Sports Illustrated headline also lists him among the Steelers' growing problems. If the long-range misses continue, the worry is about his leg and the front office's patience, though I found nothing saying his job is at risk.
Where analysts split
The question is whether the misses are long-distance variance (48, 56 and 57 yards) or an early sign of decline at 35. I found no reporting that his job is in danger. The disagreement is about his accuracy, not his role.
Research confidence: reported. Outlooks are grounded in web search over current reporting and refreshed through the season.
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