Ravens Focused on the Wrong Body Part

Most of their fans and more than a few guys on the Baltimore Ravens' side of the ball spent the past week arguing over the strength of Joe Flacco's arm. Turns out they should have paid more attention to Billy Cundiff's leg.
Their normally reliable placekicker trotted out toward the south end of Gillette Stadium early Sunday evening with 15 seconds left and a slight breeze in his face, eyeing a 32-yard field goal to force overtime against the Patriots in the AFC Championship. Rather than use his last timeout, coach Jim Harbaugh sent his kicking team out in a rush, a situation they had simulated in practice dozens of times.
This time, though, the result was anything but routine. Holder Sam Koch kept his eyes on the spot for a split second after the kick, then raised them to trace the arc of the ball. It duck-hooked just left of the upright, leaving him standing stock still for a moment in stunned silence.
"The timing was a little off and I just didn't convert. It's that simple," Cundiff said. "It's a 32-yard field goal. Between training camps and regular season games, I probably kicked a thousand of those. No excuse."
Before walking out the door a moment later, he paused.
"If you play long enough, you have games where things didn't go your way. You don't get this kind of adrenaline rush sitting behind a desk," Cundiff said softly, "or this kind of pressure."

 

Baltimore Ravens kicker Billy Cundiff (7) looks at the uprights after missing a 32 yard field goal in the closing seconds of the AFC Championship NFL football game against the New England Patriots Sunday, Jan. 22, 2012, in Foxborough, Mass. The Patriots defeated the Ravens 23-20 to win the AFC Championship. (AP Photo/Winslow Townson) Close

Then again, guys who work behind desks rarely have the job security of presidential candidates, flit from one job to another, or have to convince co-workers at every shop that they aren't a breed apart. Kickers do all the time. The Ravens are Cundiff's ninth stop during 10 years in the NFL. Only in Dallas, where he began his career and played four seasons, and Baltimore, where Cundiff has played the last three, did he manage to hang on more than a few months.
Maybe that's why so few teammates get close to kickers, and why even fewer had much to say to him after the game. In the locker room afterward, Harbaugh told Cundiff, "You'll be fine. You've got broad shoulders." Koch, the punter who had the locker next to Cundiff's and was the holder on the field-goal attempt, leaned over at one point and asked if he was OK. But that was about it
Across the nearly silent room, Baltimore's veteran tough guy linebackers Ray Lewis and Terrell Suggs sat knee-to-knee with their heads lowered, quietly commiserating. That scene may have saddened Cundiff most of all.
"I feel like this is a team when you first arrive, it's a tough group to get into because you have to earn their respect. And you do that by playing well," Cundiff said. "I've given the guys a lot of reasons to believe in me. So, if anything, the real disappointment is me letting my teammates down.
"To know that Ray poured his heart out, and he's had a long career and who knows how many years he's got left," he added, "to let him down is pretty tough."
Almost as painful for Cundiff was walking into the interview room as Flacco was finishing up. The Ravens' fourth-year quarterback was batted around last week after veteran safety Ed Reed questioned his command of the offense in Baltimore's narrow escape from the Texans in the previous round. The remarks left his teammates facing a steady stream of questions about whether Flacco had the goods to lead a championship team.