Why Baltimore Ravens Don't Need Billy Cundiff in 2012

The Baltimore Ravens are a 2013 Super Bowl contender, with or without kicker Billy Cundiff. 

The former Pro Bowler, who infamously missed a game-tying chip shot in the final minute of last year's AFC Championship against the New England Patriots, was cut by the team on Sunday, according to ESPN. 

Fortunately for the Ravens, Cundiff's release will not have a discernible negative effect in this season and beyond. 

Why? 

Simply put, the play of kickers from a season-to-season basis is essentially random. 

In a comprehensive study done by Grantland.com's Bill Barnwell, one in which he analyzed the accuracy of kickers, Barnwell illustrated this point, saying: 

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If you take the league's most accurate kickers in a given season and compare them to the NFL's least accurate ones, the least accurate kickers are better on field goals in the subsequent season. The reality is that kickers don't have a big enough sample size in a given season to exhibit a true level of ability. 

And yet, NFL teams went out and locked up the league's most accurate kickers. Connor Barth (92.9 percent), Josh Scobee (92.0 percent), and Mike Nugent (86.8 percent) were all guaranteed salaries in excess of $2 million despite the fact that there's virtually no evidence suggesting that they'll repeat that level of performance next year.

"

So, there's that. 

Cundiff, like many kickers who've played in the NFL, had one spectacular season and couldn't reproduce the production. In 2010—his Pro Bowl season—Cundiff made 89.7 percent of his field goals. Last year, the percentage dropped to 75.7 percent. Who knows if Cundiff would have improved or regressed in 2012.

History tells us that, because there's no real proof a kicker will be as consistent one year as he was in a previous season, they're easily replaceable. 

Rookie Justin Tucker was 5-of-5 on field goals and hit from 50-plus yards on two occasions during the preseason, while Cundiff was 1-of-6 from beyond 50. If anything, maybe the strong exhibition showing is foreshadowing a steady regular season for Tucker. 

Either way, just because Cundiff's a "big name" in the kicker realm, and he's a former Pro Bowl participant, doesn't mean the Ravens are foolish to cut him. More than likely, you'll forget he's gone by Week 3, and the Ravens will still contend for the AFC North without him. 

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