The old adage is, "You've got to have a short memory." Too bad Coach Jim Harbaugh's memory is only two months long. His comment after the first pre-season game respective to that missed field goal was, "You'll get a bad snap in a pressure situation. You've got to make the kick." Using this philosophy to cut an award winning kicker and then changing his tune to coddle the kicker he kept is just conscience salving at best. Harbaugh should take a lesson from another Jim and take responsibility for his mistakes.

All I've heard today is that the Ravens should have kept Stover. I would be all for keeping Stover IF Stover were the same 27 year-old kicker he was when he was 27. But. alas, he is not. He made the terrible decision to get older, and the team was forced to keep two kickers last year. This year they felt they didn't have the luxury of keeping two.

At Stover's age, there is no guarantee he would have put it down the middle, much less even made that far. I'm sorry, but that's the way it is. These guys don't last forever.

We heard the same argument last off-season about resigning Lewis. His play has been good, not great, this year, and you can plainly see that his lateral movement is down. He's getting old, people, it's not a sin. Same with Stover, and all of us, for that matter.

So support Haushka(?) and realize he is the present and future kicker for this team.

Stover = 4 wins going into the bye week. 14 game winning kicks. nuff said....

lets also not 4get that we had a lead and if our defense played a lil better it wouldnt of came down 2 a 40-yarder 2 win the game

No regrets,yet.Matt is a fine person but we had to look to the future.With Steve I want to see some more consistency with his kickoffs; too many kickoffs are falling towards the 10 yd. line and that's unacceptable for retaining him over Matt Stover.The snap for the game winner was too imperfect for Steve to readjust his rythm correctly because he's a rookie,basically.Give him a chance Ravensnation;I feel like he'll improve and besides,Hardball is going to count on him again!

In the history of the world, how many times has a coach, GM or owner admitted to making a mistake with personnel, especially when said personnel are still on staff?

Al Davis doesn't count.

I hope Mike Preston finds the time to read this.

Harbaugh has sacrificed this team for his own arrogance. He no longer wanted one of our good corners because he did not "like him". (I heard that he didn't like Bart questionning him about the way in which he treated people.) He selected an defensive coordinator with no nfl experience because he was a family friend, did not attempt to keep someone familiar with the Ravens defensive legacy like Thurman. Players ride the bench for reasons not clear. He supports a kicker who is not good yet calls out his best defensive players. Is there favoritism; is he insecure around guys with experience or confidence? Hopefully at some point management will talk with him.

The game was lost by the defense but Hauschka has only one touchback all year. He consistently gives the opposition good field position. That was one area that I thought would be an improvement over Stover. Hasn't happened.

Yes Hauschka missed the kick. But for all those saying Stover would have won the game consider the stats. During the 2008 season Stover made 5 of 9 attempts from 40-49 yards with the longest kick made being 47 yards. So a 44 yard attempt for him would not be a guaranteed game winner.

Yeah ... like George Bush had regrets about Iraq that he spoke about! Have you ever heard any coach admit to making mistakes? He ought to man-up and say he and Ozzie f'ed up

What did you expect him to say????????????? He and Ozzie made the decision to release Stover, and they will stick by that decision at least through the end of this season.

The decision would have been correct if we didn't have playoff expectations and we could afford to break in a new kicker. Someone was too clever by half. Trying to save a roster spot could have been done by paying Leonard starter money and avoiding the Chris Carr mistake.

We were told that Stover was let go because he could not plant kickoffs inside the five yard line and make field goals longer then 45 yards. The new guy can't do either as well. So where is the upgrade? He had the look of a deer in the headlights when he walked out to make that kick. The game can indeed turn on one play and a season can turn on one loss, just ask the 11-5 Patriots of last year. We will need to go 8 and 2 the rest of the season to make the playoffs. Fat chance.

Harbaugh's words are not individually and collectively but they are more of the same cover your butt stuff we heard from Billick covering his failings,,,,,,,,,only thing is the players don't believe in Harbaugh after six games , it took Billick eight years for the players to not believe in him............I'm not surprised at the lack of confidence in the coach when you look at his player decisions and personel changes , where have all the studs gone ?

Got it. So, the kicker who is currently 5 of 7 in FG attemps (71%), including one made from (you guessed it) 44 yds out, sucks and needs to be cut. Instead we should've kept the 40 yo guy who barely made half of his kicks from more than 40yds last year because he would have made that kick on Sunday (no doubt!).

There is a reason why Stover only makes sense this year for a few teams in this league (including the Dolts). Check how many times Vinateri was called on to kick from 40 yds or more last year. I guarantee you'll find your answer there.

I gotta tell you, you guys are real geniuses.

Can someone tell Todd the the coach's first name John not Jim. Jim is his brother who was the Raven's QB for about 20 minutes.

Obviously, Ozzie & Harbs knew full well that going with the kid was going to cost a game or two coming in. The issue was whether that deficit was worth the roster spot when Stover was going to have to be replaced before too long anyway. To the doubbters: who would yu have cut to keep 2 kickers on? And might that also have cost us games, especially when injuries eat into your depth? At the same time, Stover has been far from automatic at 40+, so who knows if he would have made this one either. So chill on the "Harbaugh's ego" rants--it was a rational decision, and whether it was the right one will only be shown over the length of the season.

We need a giant wide receiver who kicks off, plays corner and can pass rush

I don't find Harbough's comments satisfactory. The Sun should do a piece on What the F---- Happened in those last two seconds. Key questions: how come Hauschka, who's been on team for two seasons, is acclimated to pro football, has seen Stover make or miss such shots, was selected and groomed for this ONE kick, was so unprepared? He looked like a bunny rabbit out there; everyone KNEW he didn't have the warrior moxie to make the shot. Second: Coach errors--with a newbie kicked, it behooves team to get ball as close in as possi ble. Instead, they waste down, burn 26 seconds off clock (HELPING Vikes freeze the kid) and leave him isolated on sidelines to melt down. Disgraceful. SHOW him you're helping by running one more play. Two-three yards closer we had win. Who is responsible for that turn of events. What has staff LEARNED from it. If you just bury it and don't examine it, you learn nothing and then it is a tragedy.

Also: give me Stover in THAT circumstance please. It's indoors (no wind), the surface is flat and non-slippery, the ball is warm and will therefore travel further. Outdoors, he probably makes it. Should they have cut Stover for his lack of leg. Well, possibly, but the roster spot they "saved" is currently occupied by guys who aren't playing. Should have saved BOTH kickers. We'd be 4-2, clearly.

he is gonna cost us 2 more wins ! X

he is gonna cost us 2 more wins ! X

Hauschka kicked the winning extra point...the defense lost the game.

C'mon people! One kick, one game and you want to dump the kid? Harbaugh's right - did Stover, the "Automatic" make all his kicks as a young NFL player? I think not.

Aren't you naysayers the same ones that wanted Mark Clayton's scalp after "The Drop"? We're 3-3, last year we were 2-3 at this time and went all the way to the AFC Championship!

He's gonna be our kicker, atleast for this season so lets just hope he improves. Lets also hope our defense doesn't allow 14 points in the first quarter anymore. If Mason would have made that catch... so many ifs. It was a team loss.

I was like everyone else when I saw Hauschka come out for the winning field goal. I had my doubts that he could do it. After he missed it - I said to myself that Matt Stover would have nailed it.

However, people forget that in today's NFL with Salary Caps and Free Agents, teams can't always do what they want. The Ravens had salary cap issues and couldn't resign Stover to the amount that he would require due to his seniority. In a perfect world, the Ravens would have signed him and let him compete for his job in spring training. The salary cap has changed the way teams can operate.