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December 11, 2014
Cleveland Cavaliers vs. Oklahoma City Thunder Behind the Box Score
December 12, 2014One of the bigger Browns issues that has flown mostly under the radar with the QB change is the Browns’ struggling kicker Billy Cundiff. The media has asked about it and the Browns brass has talked about it, but the wake from the S.S. Manziel is just so big you barely notice. Today, Browns’ long-time special teams coordinator Chris Tabor spoke about Cundiff’s issues.
On what he can do to get K Billy Cundiff out of a funk:
“I think that it’s just one of those things that he’s fighting through right now. We just got back from the stadium moments ago, and I thought he kicked the ball as well as I’ve ever seen him. It’s just one of those deals that…there are some other things that sometimes go into it, but if he strikes the ball the rest of the season like he did today, we’ll be in great shape.”
On Cundiff seeming like he lacks some confidence in either the snap or the hold and the rhythm being off:
“Yeah, there are always a lot of things that go into it, but I thought (LS) Christian (Yount), he snapped the ball well on that one that he missed the other day. Billy will be the first one to tell you he just didn’t make the kick. There has been times throughout the year that something has been off, and that’s the thing at that position – those three have to work together. They’re working hard to get that done. I still have confidence in him. At the end of the day, I think that he’s like 22 of 29 right now or something like that. I kind of take two of those away. We gave up a block in the Baltimore game, and then we tried a 60-yarder. In my mind, he’s 22 of 27, and that’s five missed kicks which would put him roughly around 81-percent. He’s a good kicker. It’s just something that…at the end of the day, we’re charged with when we have an opportunity to get points, we’ve got to get points. This weekend will be the same time of deal.”
It’s interesting for Tabor to stand up for his guy by eliminating the 60-yarder. I tend to agree with Tabor, but I hadn’t really thought about it much other than to criticize Mike Pettine for that decision.
Kicker is one of those positions that just seems part magical, anyway. I know it’s more to do with conditions and mechanics and that battery of snapper, holder and kicker as opposed to luck, mojo or any other mysticism, but ask a Bills fan some time. On second thought, don’t ask them. My point is that kickers are either someone you’re angry with or you are taking for granted and you really only end up looking at the results of the play instead of anything else. Either it went in or it didn’t.
Makes me wonder how much time is spent in kick analytics figuring out even beyond makes and misses, just how close to the center is a kicker putting it between the uprights on makes? Anyway, here’s hoping Billy Cundiff can keep his name out of our mouths for the rest of this season.
8 Comments
Eh, I guess we could cue and rehash the St. Philip of Dawson FA vitriol, but he’s not walking back through the door. Despite the fact there is very little difference in skill among NFL kickers, complaining about kickers is something every NFL fan does. The reality is every once in a while a kicker misses a 42 yarder. So Tabor’s right–a guy ends up around 80%, he’s doing alright.
(Also, as far as kicking grievances go–just think if you’re Cincy–that Nugent last second kick vs Carolina was the difference between a win and a tie that might end up really biting them).
Unfortunately, there’s one kicker that hasn’t missed all season, and that’s the one we just faced.
Tabor is sticking up for his guy, which is what he should do. But, we wouldn’t have brought in kickers each of the past 2 weeks to observe if we were satisfied with Cundiff and what he was doing.
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80% would be 24th in the NFL this year. 86% is right in the middle of the kickers and the least of where you would like your guy to be. Especially one that gets so many shorter FGs.
Cundiff is hitting 75.9% of his FGs this year, which puts him at 29th in the NFL.
His 7 misses are the most in the NFL.
3 misses at 30-39 is also most in the NFL.
Only Folk and Haushucka have more misses at 40-49 (and they are both perfect in the 30s).
When you look at the stats, Cundiff is hitting FGs at a rate less than Walsh and Dawson, whom teams are willing to let go of a little bit of accuracy in order to get the longer kicks out of them (both 5/7 from 50+, Cundiff 1/3).
the problem is we’ve lost 2 games because of his missed field goals 😐
I’d question the “because of” part. While we lost by less than 3 points, I wouldn’t say he was the reason we lost (although Hoyer would). If we look at things that way, we say he was the reason we won 3 games.
Phil missed one 30-39 and two from 40-49 and is 82%. So he’s below average then! Damn. Are a bunch of guys kicking out of their minds this year?
Last year the mid-point on kickers was 89%. They are actually down this year so far.
Billy Cundiff
’13 21/26 (25th)
’12 7/12 (not enough to qualify, but yuck and 3/5 in the 30s)
’11 28/37 (28th)
So, this year isn’t new.
I think excluding the block and perhaps even the 60-yarder is a bit silly – other people also have blocks that impact the league average or kicks that are absurdly long that were attempted (though perhaps not 60).