View Full Version : Stover in the SB
RavenScallywag
02-07-2010, 09:10 PM
Look, I'm happy for Stover and I still agree it was a mistake letting him go...
but does everyone understand why we wanted to change it up now? Everyone argued that he was such a clutch kicker, he makes the big kicks even when they are long ones...
He missed the 51 yarder and I knew he was going to miss it as he lined up.
Not trying to trash the guy, I think he just doesn't have the leg outside of 40-45 yards. And we need a guy to make those long kicks.
Totally agree. I bear no ill will towards Matt. His leg just isn't strong enough nowa days. Inside 40 yards his still automatic. I knew as well he was gonna miss it.
Even still hope he gets a second ring tonight. I can't stand all that Who Dat BS anymore.
camdenyard
02-07-2010, 09:36 PM
Um, you do realize that the kick was long enough...right?
RavenScallywag
02-07-2010, 09:47 PM
Right, but his ACCURACY from outside of there is no good. We KNOW Stover has the leg to kick a ball 50 or 60 yards, but he pushes it and that affects his accuracy.
Meanwhile, a guy like Cundiff has a LOT more dependability kicking an ACCURATE ball 50-55 yards.
Jeremiah W
02-07-2010, 09:59 PM
What about the guy in SD?
I thought he was going to make it, but was glad he did not.
I was not even thinking it would matter in the outcome of the game, but if he makes a 51 yarder in the Sb than the Ravens really look like jerks for not bringing him back.
He would have won the Viking game and maybe sparked a comeback vs the bengals or made 6/6 vs Indy, but in the end it was a pretty safe risk to move on from that old of a kicker, just sucks that he was still better than the guy we kept.
but in the end it was a pretty safe risk to move on from that old of a kicker, just sucks that he was still better than the guy we kept.
That was the biggest problem with the whole thing. I don't mind if you get rid of an aging player. But be sure the replacement is better than the other guy.
Tspot-D-Ravenator
02-07-2010, 11:39 PM
A 51 yard field goal for ANY kicker is difficult and not automatic! This thread didn't need to be started:grbac:
effo5231
02-07-2010, 11:57 PM
This thread didn't need to be started:grbac:
Says you. I say that Stover's inability to be accurate over 40 yards is a point worth repeating. Look at the stats, even playing this season in a dome his longest kick was only 43 yards this season.
It sucks that we haven't been able to replace him with a kicker who is as good as he was at his peak, but his peak was long ago and letting him go was the right move. Do you really think he would have kicked better than the 80% he did this year if he spent the season NOT kicking in a dome?
Mista T
02-07-2010, 11:57 PM
Looking at Stover's overall performance this seaon vs. Hauschka: this thread is a joke. OK, he missed (barely) a 50+ yard FG attempt. BFD. So do most kickers.
Try spinning it any way you want, but Stover would have helped win us aother game or two. Stupid decision by the front office.
effo5231
02-08-2010, 12:24 AM
Looking at Stover's overall performance this seaon vs. Hauschka: this thread is a joke. OK, he missed (barely) a 50+ yard FG attempt. BFD. So do most kickers.
Try spinning it any way you want, but Stover would have helped win us aother game or two. Stupid decision by the front office.
Stover's overall performance was in a dome this season. That alone is going to improve his numbers. Additionally, he only attempted 12 kicks all year. And his long was only 43 yards. To attempt to judge ANYTHING about how Stover would have done on our team versus how he did on the Colts is the joke.
And I still think its absolutely illogical to assume we would have won more games with Stover. Could we have? Maybe. But which ones? Minnesota? Based on his stats over the last few years, there's a 50/50 chance he makes that kick. What other games came down to a field goal? Bengals in week 5 Haushka doesn't attempt a kick. No way for Stover to help there. Indy? Cundiff went 5 for 6... can't really complain about the one miss. Pitt? Cundiff went 2 for 2. Stover can't help there either. Every other loss was by more than a field goal and therefor would have still been losses even if Stover was in AND made those kicks (which as I showed, is no great guarantee.)
I agree that it sucks that Stover had to go. But make no mistake, he only did as well as he did this year because he landed in a great situation. Dome team that doesn't ask him to make a lot of kicks and doesn't need him to kickoff because their punter does that.
Brtnder81
02-08-2010, 12:31 AM
Says you. I say that Stover's inability to be accurate over 40 yards is a point worth repeating. Look at the stats, even playing this season in a dome his longest kick was only 43 yards this season.
It sucks that we haven't been able to replace him with a kicker who is as good as he was at his peak, but his peak was long ago and letting him go was the right move. Do you really think he would have kicked better than the 80% he did this year if he spent the season NOT kicking in a dome?
absolutly i think Stover would have made 80% of his kicks kicking outside of a dome. he has done it for 11 straight seasons and 13 times in his career. so what he isnt automatic outside of 45 yards. he is money inside of that and that is where most of any kickers FG attempts are from
edreedisgod20
02-08-2010, 02:54 AM
We've all seen hundreds and hundreds of Matt Stover field goals in our lifetimes. It was painfully obvious that Matt was trying to put the extra mustard on the ball and that threw off his kick. Even though he hit the ball cleanly, it was ass ugly as soon as it left his foot.
I don't doubt Matt's mechanics or his nerves, nor will you hear me praise Steve Hauschka anytime soon - but I do know that I would have been extremely frustrated every time my team had to punt the ball from between the 30 and 35 yard line.
We've all seen hundreds and hundreds of Matt Stover field goals in our lifetimes. It was painfully obvious that Matt was trying to put the extra mustard on the ball and that threw off his kick. Even though he hit the ball cleanly, it was ass ugly as soon as it left his foot.
I don't doubt Matt's mechanics or his nerves, nor will you hear me praise Steve Hauschka anytime soon - but I do know that I would have been extremely frustrated every time my team had to punt the ball from between the 30 and 35 yard line.
:iagree:
When they showed the replay I told my co worker the same thing. Matt was putting everything behind that kick and it threw off his accuracy.
He just doesn't have the pure leg strength from that distance anymore without giving up some accuracy.
RavensDomination
02-08-2010, 05:46 AM
I agree that it sucks that Stover had to go. But make no mistake, he only did as well as he did this year because he landed in a great situation. Dome team that doesn't ask him to make a lot of kicks and doesn't need him to kickoff because their punter does that.
I agree, he landed in a great situation. He just isn't the kicker he used to be, that 51 yarder proved it.
Personally I took great satisfaction in the fact that not only did he lose the Super Bowl but he missed a critical kick in the process. Can you say vindication?
RavenScallywag
02-08-2010, 06:58 AM
As I said before....
I wish Stover NO ill will...Guy was nothing but a total team player and he deserved an opportunity to play in another SB
I won't say ANYTHING about his accuracy from 40 yards and less. And I will give him up to 45, because I think in those clutch situations, he can push the strength a little bit and still knock it through
I still disagree with the overall way we handled the situation. He should've been brought back and at least competed with Hauschka for the job. He would've likely won the job anyway given Hauschka's uneven performance in preseason. And this whole "roster spot" we saved didn't do us much good. In the end, it would've made more sense to keep Stover and Hauschka/Cundiff/Gano, and just slowly get the younger guy the experience they needed.
I just wanted to state, I UNDERSTAND why the Front Office considered the move. Granted, we only had 10 attempts from 40 and beyond, and we were 6 of 10 in that range, with NO FGs over 50 yards made. So I'll admit the front office gets a Fail grade for their plan. But i think everyone has to admit, Stover's leg strength is just not as good. yes, he kicked the ball 51 yards, but he had to sacrifice his accuracy a bit to do so. I'm just saying this because a lot of people love to bash ozzie and harbaugh like the decision was complete insanity, and a lot of people try to reason that in a clutch situation, Matt would still make the long FG. I'm just saying he didn't always make the long one, so it was at least partially right to start considering a kicker who can make the long FG. We just haven't found that guy yet.
camdenyard
02-08-2010, 08:08 AM
But i think everyone has to admit, Stover's leg strength is just not as good. yes, he kicked the ball 51 yards, but he had to sacrifice his accuracy a bit to do so.
That ball was dead on until the last 5 yards. It was strange the way the ball reacted, almost as if it hit a big crosswind.
Anyway, had he made that kick can you imagine the firestorm that would be on this board today?
Don't be surprised to see him back with the Ravens next year.
ravenwoman
02-08-2010, 08:54 AM
I want the New Orleans kicker!!!
RavenScallywag
02-08-2010, 09:52 AM
And I would welcome him back to the Ravens next year...provided he comes along with a young(er) kicker who we use for kickoffs and long FGs.
sailorsam
02-08-2010, 11:15 AM
this has been a disastrous postseason for fg kickers. I saw a stat somewhere, reg season fgs 85%, this postseason 55%. the guy in San Diego did especially poorly. just one of those things.
I agree Stover is past his prime; I agree Hauschka wasn't ready to replace him. Cundiff could well be a long-term solution. we'll see.
shaslers
02-08-2010, 03:12 PM
I posted this on the Sun board in a thread I felt needed to be started....
over the '06--08 seasons the league average from 40-19 for was 80% and Stover was 70% accurate at these distances during his final three years in Baltimore.
And he was getting progressively worse. Here's the breakdown of his kicks from 40-49 and 50+ in his last three seasons as a Raven...
2006 6 for 7 (86%), and 1 for 1 beyond 50
2007 8 for 12 (67%), and 0 for 1 beyond 50
2008 5 for 9 (56%), and 0 for 1 beyond 50
To update, in 2009 as a Colt, he was 3/3 from 40-49 and 0/2 from beyond fifty.
That's a very small sample size, so it's hard to say if he rebounded from that distance. Two of his makes from 40-49 were inside the dome at home, and one was in Baltimore, ironically enough, a 44 yarder.
Clearly, though, he hasn't made a 50+ yarder since Steve McNair was piloting the Ravens to the Playoffs.
For the record, in 2009 he was 12 of 13 from inside forty. Hence, Mr. Automatic.
Brtnder81
02-08-2010, 07:37 PM
:iagree:
When they showed the replay I told my co worker the same thing. Matt was putting everything behind that kick and it threw off his accuracy.
He just doesn't have the pure leg strength from that distance anymore without giving up some accuracy.
every kicker in the NFL when kicking a FG of 50+ yards is gonna give up some accuracy for distance
pro320
02-08-2010, 08:02 PM
So what! It's not like he's the difference between loosing to the Colts and going to the Super Bowl.
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PTORaven
02-08-2010, 11:37 PM
Maybe we let him go a year early, but if he wasn't cut last year we'd all be expecting him to get cut this year. We all love Stover, but just because we didn't find the heir to the fourth highest scorer of all time in this league this season doesn't mean we can't hope for finding someone next year. Someone tell me what roster spot could've been sacrificed for Stover, who can't kick off for shit, to make our team better this year. Sadly he was the Raven's 54th wheel.
StingerNLG
02-09-2010, 12:54 AM
Don't be surprised to see him back with the Ravens next year.
Someone tell me what Billy Cundiff did to lose the job? Hauschka wasn't ready for this. No doubt about it. But Cundiff came in and kicked well.
So why would we resign Stover? To please a portion of the fanbase who didn't want him to go?
Just doesn't make sense to me.
Mista T
02-09-2010, 01:06 AM
Someone tell me what Billy Cundiff did to lose the job?
I hate to agree with you, because I would have loved seeing Stover return to Baltimore after the shafting he got last year. But, you are correct: Cundiff played well, and should be retained.
srobert96
02-09-2010, 09:37 AM
The Decision to not resign Stover was not the mistake. The mistake was not drafting a kicker. They wanted Succop and hoped they would be able to sign him as a FA. KC drafted him at the end of the 7th round.