By Zach Wilt, on May 15th, 2012  Not many Ravens fans questioned Billy Cundiff’s ability until he shanked a potential game tying 32-yard field goal in the AFC Championship. I still blame head coach John Harbaugh, who failed to call a timeout while Cundiff raced to the field to kick the most important field goal of his career, but that’s beside the point.
This summer, Cundiff will receive some competition from undrafted rookie Justin Tucker and the early reports from rookie camp on the new kid are pretty good.
I can’t wait to head out to Westminster to check out this competition! …wait…
Tucker kicked a 55-yard field goal and almost made one from 60 out at Owings Mills according to Jason Butt of CBSSports.com. ”All I can say is I look forward to it, competing with a guy who’s had success,” Tucker said.
If you’re worried a rookie in a clutch situation, Tucker, from the University of Texas, is most famously known for hitting a game winning 40-yard field goal against Texas A&M during his senior year.
By Ross Gore, on May 9th, 2012 Today former Texans wide receiver, perennial fantasy football sleeper and major contributor to the Ravens playoff win last year Jacoby Jones, became the newest Baltimore Raven. For those who don’t remember Jones inexplicably tried to field a punt with Cary Williams bearing down on him in the second round of the playoffs last year. When Jones bobbled the punt it resulted in the Ravens jumping out to an early 7-0 lead over the Texans and an eventual win. Five months later Jones will enter camp trying to help the Ravens by not bobbling the ball but holding onto it.
 Jacoby Jones fumbles a punt against the Ravens in the second round of NFL playoffs. There is a lot to like about Jones signing. First, he is an incredible physical specimen: 6-foot-2 1/2, 210 lbs. and a 4.49 forty-yard dash time. Simply put, he has all the physical skills needed in a #1 wide receiver. Jones’ physical attributes shouldn’t be quickly dismissed despite his lack of production in Houston. When players with these skills/attributes “get it” they become stars. In past NFL seasons players like Miles Austin, Vincent Jackson and Brandon Marshall were all recent “projects” with similar physical skills who’ve developed into #1 wide receivers out of nowhere. More analysis on Jones and how he fits into the 2012 Ravens after the jump.
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By Zach Wilt, on April 24th, 2012  Matt Stover is a legend in Baltimore. In my 16 years as a Ravens fan, he is still the only guy that I really felt comfortable watching trot out there for a game winning field goal.
Despite being run out of town by the current coaching regime, Stover never turned his back on the Ravens. He was inducted into the Ring of Honor last season and will announce the team’s second and third-round draft picks during the NFL Draft on Friday.
“I’m very, very grateful to do it,” Stover told Ryan Mink at BaltimoreRavens.com. ”It’s such a neat opportunity to represent my team and my city.”
The Ravens should feel very fortunate that Stover holds no harsh feelings towards the franchise. A lesser man probably could have turned their back on a team that gave up on one of its most consistent players. John Harbaugh and the Ravens parted ways with the then 18-year veteran after the 2008 season and brought in Steve Hauschka and Graham Gano to compete for Stover’s position. There was never an option for the veteran to prove he still had enough in the tank to keep his job.
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By Matt Lund, on February 10th, 2012 
The 2011 Ravens brought about one of the best seasons in franchise history. They finished the regular season with a 12-4 record en route to the team’s third AFC North title in team history.
They finished 8-0 at home for the first time ever and swept the season series against the Pittsburgh Steelers for the first time since the 2006 season.
They featured a running back in the name of Ray Rice who led the NFL in total yards from scrimmage and brought along a rookie wide receiver in Torrey Smith who finished the season with seven touchdowns, setting a Ravens rookie record. They added a third Defensive Player of the Year award to the mantle with linebacker Terrell Suggs winning this season.
The Baltimore Ravens were two plays away from playing in Super Bowl XLVI, but overall was a season to remember for fans everywhere. Let’s take a final look at the Ravens season unit by unit. READ MORE >>>
By Zach Wilt, on February 2nd, 2012  The Ravens were one play away from playing this Sunday in Indianapolis. All Lee Evans has to do is fall down with the ball and it’s a Super Bowl 35 not a Super Bowl 42 rematch.
But Evans dropped the ball and Billy Cundiff missed a 32-yard field goal that killed the Ravens chances of sending the AFC Championship to overtime. It still stings just typing it.
Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti met with the media for his annual State of the Ravens press conference and even he acknowledged the painful loss. ”I’m not over it,” he said. ”Hold onto a ball. I mean that’s where it was this year.”
After reading the quotes and watching the press conference I’ve come to the conclusion that Bisciotti and the Ravens front office really believe that this is a championship caliber team. Bisciotti is content with this coaching staff and the talent on the field. He believes in Cam Cameron and thinks Joe Flacco will win multiple rings.
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By Zach Wilt, on January 30th, 2012 “That’s my team. That’s my quarterback,” Terrell Owens famously whined.
Out in Hawaii, former Ravens running back Willis McGahee caught some smack talk from a Baltimore fan about Tim Tebow. ”If you had a better quarterback you could have gone further,” the fan yelled to McGahee.
“That’s like saying if they [had] a better kicker they would have won right,” McGahee said back.
Ouch.
By Zach Wilt, on January 27th, 2012 Poor Billy Cundiff.
He can’t even catch a break on this online store.
I’m not sure why you’d ever want a kicker’s jersey, but if for some reason you did maybe you saw this zinger when you searched for Cundiff.
Sean Tomlinson of The Score first pointed out the jab at Cundiff.
By Zach Wilt, on January 27th, 2012  The Patriots fan that caught Billy Cundiff’s missed 32-yard game tying field goal is selling it.
I know you’re bitter, but it’s actually for a good cause.
Terry Oder, a physician from Hartford, caught Cundiff’s attempt and is looking to raise $50,000 for a scholarship fund in memory of his friend who recently passed away.
According to the Hartford Courant, Oder and a group of buddies who had been mourning the death of their friend decided to make the trip to the AFC Championship game to clear their minds.
The money raised with the ball will be used to fund the late friend’s 1-year old son’s education.
At least Cundiff’s kick will be helping someone in need.
By BSR Staff, on January 26th, 2012  What do Heidi Klum and the Ravens have in common? What a crappy week. The Ravens gets bounced from the AFC Championship, then lose Chuck Pagano, the Orioles miss on Prince Fielder and Maryland loses to Duke.
If you need something to brighten your day, the BSR Podcast is the best we can do.
It’s not necessarily a positive spin on all the terrible news, but it should have you laughing and ignoring a terrible week in Baltimore.
You can get in touch with the BSR Podcast by sending your emails to podcast@baltimoresportsreport.com or leaving a voicemail at 443-379-4BSR (4377).
Here are some of topics discussed in this week’s show:
Breaking Down The AFC Championship
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Podcast: Play in new window
By Zach Wilt, on January 25th, 2012  Bill Belichick is a cheater. Plain and simple. Whatever you think of the genius head coach of the New England Patriots or how much video taping run through practices had to do with his three championships doesn’t matter. He broke the rules, he’s a cheater.
For the record, I think Bill Belichick is only as smart as Tom Brady is good. I’m not a numbers expert like Ross Gore but here’s an advanced stat for you: Bill Belichick – Tom Brady = slightly above average coach.
When I read about the “scoreboard malfunction” during the Ravens final drive that resulted in Billy Cundiff’s sideline distraction and eventually a shanked game tying 32 yard field goal, I immediately thought that The Hoodie was at work. In that conniving monotone voice of his, Belichick told his minions upstairs to keep the incorrect down on the scoreboard and watched chaos ensue on the Ravens sideline.
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By Zach Wilt, on January 25th, 2012  Billy Cundiff’s name has become synonymous with choking. Poor guy.
A few clever Kansas Jayhawks fans — seven to be exact — held up C-U-N-D-I-F-F behind the basket during Monday night’s basketball game against Texas A&M.
By Zach Wilt, on January 24th, 2012  Sandwiched between a posts about Halle Berry’s baby daddy and Heidi Klum’s split from Seal on TMZ.com was an article about the sideline drama prior to Billy Cundiff’s missed 32-yard game tying field goal.
According to the post, Cundiff was reportedly distracted during the Ravens drive and was “unaware that his time to kick was looming.”
Perhaps the most concerning part of TMZ’s Exclusive report was that it says two players spoke with the gossip blog about their experiences on the sideline during the miscommunication.
According to our sources, coaches repeatedly called for Cundiff — at least 6 times — to no avail — he wasn’t responding. We’re told the coaches became “furious” because Cundiff wasn’t ready to go.
Our sources say players and coaches are saying Cundiff was distracted … not paying attention and not ready to immediately execute a kick.
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By Dave Gilmore, on January 24th, 2012  It’s been an emotional 48 hours. Let’s call it a “cooling off period.” If you said anything bananas on Facebook or Twitter or to an entire room full of your friends, so be it. All is forgiven, tensions were running high, after all. It was an abnormally stressful situation in perhaps the biggest game in a decade for Baltimore Ravens fans.
Now that the cooling off period is over, and you’ve perhaps retracted or rethought some of the things you said or wrote, how do you feel towards Billy Cundiff? If you’re not experiencing something nearing “empathy” by now, that’s a problem.
I’m not saying you can’t be frustrated or wring your hands over the should-haves and what-ifs. That’s natural when you’re so invested in a cause that fails, especially one you have no direct control over. However at this point, the deconstruction of the Ravens 23-20 loss needs to be about the game and the playoff run in its entirety, not a single play (which happened to be the last play of the season).
Billy Cundiff did as we all should and will do in life: he tried and failed. There is literally no reason for Cundiff to have not given his best effort under the circumstances. Things could’ve gone down differently. A timeout could’ve been burned, a catch could have been made, a block could’ve been sealed just a bit longer – nobody is faultless on an NFL Sunday. Nobody. AFC Championship games included.
So ruling out the fact that Cundiff didn’t try and make the kick, what are we left with? The answer is that we are forced to confront our own doubts, fears, failures, and fallibility. If you’re screaming at Billy Cundiff still a day or two later, Google mapping Lee Evans’ home or a deranged Niners “fan” sending death threats to Kyle Williams via Twitter, you have a lot more going on than fandom. READ MORE >>>
By Dave Gilmore, on January 23rd, 2012 
Given what occurred in Foxboro yesterday, it seems appropriate to channel some positive memories of Ravens special teams play.
Matt Stover will turn 44 years old on Friday, and could probably still jump in and kick in the Super Bowl if either team needed him to un-retire. In fact, Stover is the oldest player to ever play in AND score in Super Bowl history (he was 42 while kicking for the Colts in his final season).
The Ravens did right by inducting Stover into their Ring of Honor this year. The Louisiana Tech product missed just three extra points in his entire NFL career, and is currently 5th on the NFL’s all-time leading scorer list. Somehow, he only made the Pro Bowl once, which seems a bit criminal.
Stover made the transition from Cleveland Brown to Baltimore Raven seamlessly, and came to embody all that was good about the young franchise. Has there ever been a more fitting jersey number?
Got an item for TWIBSH? Send it to baltimorecaps@gmail.com or @BalSportsReport on Twitter.
By Zach Wilt, on January 23rd, 2012  It’s always hard to put the blame of a big loss solely one player for one play. After all, there were many decisions that led to Billy Cundiff’s 32 yard shank or Lee Evans dropped game winner.
Like a coaching staff’s decision to go for it on 4th and 6 or not use the last remaining timeout before a potential game winning field goal.
Unfortunately for the Ravens, two players have the weight of their AFC Championship loss on their shoulders, Lee Evans and Billy Cundiff.
Evans reportedly sat and stared into his locker room after coming off the field. ”The most disappointing part of all this is that I feel personally that I let everybody down,” Evans later told reporters.
“I get paid to make field goals I don’t get paid to miss field goals,” Cundiff told Aaron Wilson of the Carroll County Times. ”It’s a kick I’ve kicked a thousand times in my career. I just went out there and didn’t convert,” he added according to Dan Kolko of MASNSports.com. Cundiff entered Sunday’s matchup converting just 11 of 20 field goals on the road just a year removed from a Pro Bowl season.
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