Billy Cundiff: Baltimore Ravens' Kicker Deserves the Blame for Loss vs. Patriots

Billy Cundiff lost the AFC Championship game for the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday.

People can say that a team wins and losses as a group, but the defense slowed Tom Brady and the New England Patriots down and the offense got the team in a position to push the game into overtime.

So if they did their job, whose fault was it?

Cundiff knows the answer to that question.

With the heaviest of hearts, this man needs to take full responsibility for his lack of results. He needs to make sure that the people that he let down know he is sorry. Time will help heal these wounds, but a report coming out now may have this wound deeper than first thought.

TMZ is reporting about Cundiff’s peculiar behavior before the kick:

"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."

While Cundiff's actions before the kick—and the fact actually missed that kick—bother me to no end, I can expect that from a kicker or a punter. They are what they are.

My problems are that Ed Reed or Ray Lewis could have walked over to Cundiff during this whole mess and force him to snap out of it. I know if the possibility of a kick was shaking Cundiff’s confidence, an angry Ray Lewis in his ear would have him kicking scared.

Any emotion is better than no emotion. While Cundiff was dispassionate before the kick, he is full of a wide range of feelings now.

TMZ asked their sources about Cundiff’s treatment from other players:

"

We didn't give him a hard time because he looked like he was ready to kill himself.

"

No one deserves to die over a football game, but he still deserves all the blame.

Check back for more on the National Football League as it comes, and check out Bleacher Report’s NFL Page to get your fill of all things football.

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