Baltimore Ravens’ kicker Billy Cundiff rues missing of goal in AFC championship, gets team support – NFL News
Baltimore Ravens’ kicker, Billy Cundiff, is trying to walk head high on the support from his teammates and the team’s management, despite continuing to find the bitter pill of miss of the 32-yard goal opportunity in their American Football Conference (AFC)
championship game against the New England Patriots too hard to swallow.
The player ruined a clear opportunity for a 32-yard goal, with only 11 seconds to close of the game, and as a result of the miss, Ravens ended up as losers.
Cundiff had taken that kick so many times in the past and the loss of the opportunity on that day shocked Ravens’ entire squad.
It came too hard for the player himself to believe and accept the harsh reality of the wasted chance and he has found himself in low spirits since then, apparently feeling the guilt and responsibility of the loss of the Conference championship.
He is lucky to have found support from his teammates and other members of Ravens’ football community in such hard times, and is trying to be over with the lapse of that day despite that he still finds himself being haunted by it.
"It's been impressive. I expected a lot more backlash," Cundiff said. "I had a lot of guys that kept telling me, 'Look, I've made mistakes.' Obviously, everyone sees my mistakes. That's just the way it goes."
Cundiff miss has gained more prominence since its occurring because of the loss of the game by his team after having come loser to a win.
It was a rare chance for the Baltimore Ravens in last four years that they for the first time played an AFC championship game. Their National Football League (NFL) run had ended up in the wild card and playoff rounds, previously.
Ravens, who have traditionally relied on their defence in most of their wins, got special help from their offence, led by their quarterback, Joe Flacco, on that day and if Cundiff had managed to score the goal, a win could have been a reality for them.
Having come so closer to the victory and ruining of the chance, all proved to be disastrous for the team, bringing another disappointing end to their otherwise successful run of the league.
Cundiff career has marked with frequent ups and downs. He once stood a chance of becoming a basketball player, and ended up playing professional football.
He was cut by the NFL teams for as many as nine times before he settled down and then his league’s career has progressed on a similar patron.
The miss was the latest of the surprises of his career, which at the end not affected him much in the presence of the support from his team.
He said:
"They knew if I had that same situation to play over again, I'd probably make it 99 times out of 100," he said. "It was a really strange situation. The team understood the context of it all. So they knew going forward that they don't have to worry about
me, because they know what I've been through."
With the talk around his plays in the game, Cundiff is backed to his home in Iowa, trying to overcome with the loss.
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