The streak is over for the Ravens' Billy Cundiff.
The only kicker in the NFL this season to produce a touchback in every game, Cundiff failed to register a touchback in the team's 20-10 victory over the Cleveland Browns Sunday.
Cundiff, who still trails by two the Minnesota Vikings' Mitch Berger for the NFL record of 40 touchbacks in a single season, said a deceptively gusty wind coming off Lake Erie played havoc with his distance on kickoffs."If you didn't hit the perfect kick, the wind was going to beat the snot out of it," he said. "I had two kickoffs, one going in each direction, and they got into the end zone just because I hit it really, really well. We had another kick where I just got underneath it and didn't hit it that great and then the ball just fluttered. And then we had a ball where we purposely tried to kick it short and to the right. That was to try to throw them off a bit. And the footing wasn't really that great. But it was definitely challenging for us."
Cundiff said the reduction in distance on his kickoffs applied more pressure to the coverage unit to run down the field faster and close in on return specialist Josh Cribbs, who averaged 25.2 yards on five returns.
"It's tougher for our coverage guys," Cundiff said. "For us, we understand that if we really focus in and hit our best ball, then it all kind of plays itself out. If you let all the elements get to you, you could lose your focus and then you're going to compound your mistakes. And that's when you really put your coverage team at a disadvantage."
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