Poor Billy Cundiff.
The Ravens kicker, a Pro Bowl player a season ago, made 81.8 percent of his attempts the past two regular seasons. His missed field goal attempt against the New England Patriots was the only one that he missed in the playoffs in nine tries over the past two postseasons. It was his first miss in the fourth quarter all season.
And despite all this talk of "Scoreboard Gate," Cundiff took full ownership of his fateful failed kick.
"It's a kick I've kicked a thousand times in my career," Cundiff said after the 23-20 loss in the AFC championship game. "I just went out there and didn't convert. That's the way things go. There's really no excuse for it."
That hasn't stopped Cundiff from being heckled for not connecting on a 32-yard field goal attempt that would have forced overtime Sunday. See the above screenshot from ESPN's telecast of a Monday college basketball game between Kansas and Texans A&M. And of course Cundiff has been given the Ray Finkle treatment, too.
Hang in there, Billy. Brighter days are ahead.