Ravens suck anyway

Agreed, I think the Ravens should have cut someone else like L.J. Smith that never makes the active list and kept Hauschka on the roster. They speak highly of him except for his recent misses so why let him go completely?

Pete,
Great Post! He is a great kid. But Harbs needs to be held accountable for the fact that he went with an untested kicker on a team that was one win away from the Super Bowl. That Minnesota loss could end up being the difference in making the playoffs. Poor judgement from a coach that knows special teams like the back of his hand.

I understand it, but it's baling with a fork.
This teams problems go way beyond an inconsistent kicker.

I know a person who works closely with Hauschka, I'm not going to say his name so the media can go run and bother him, but he told me that Hauschka was not well liked in the locker room and most of the time came off standoffish. I don't know it is true but it is curious.

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Pete's reply: I didn't find him to be that way, but remember that kickers generally are not held in the same regard as regular players in football lockerrooms because they don't take the same day-to-day punishment as the other players. So, if a kicker doesn't perform, he becomes isolated very quickly.

Hey Griff, Your just angry because your Squealers got beat by a superior team. Stairway to Seven, not this year! Go Bengals!

Brian Billick was supposed to be the offensive genius when he was hired here; but the Raven's offence was laughable under him. Now, Harbaugh i supposed to be the special teams guru; but our special teams are anything but special. May be we should hire a defensive coordinator as the next head coach, and our offense will then flourish under him.

We should go out and get the Colts old kicker, Vanderjag (sp?)I'll bet he would be motivated to make some kicks next week.

Tyche, we get it.

Tyche, I never claimed to be an offensive genius. Mike Preston made that claim. Don't worry about me though. I'm just sitting here looking at the Miles River, whistling a happy tune and seeing how the setting sun reflects off my Super Bowl ring. Oh yeah, I've also been having a boatload of fun hanging up on Danny Snyder when he calls . . . . 8 times today alone. Already added him to my blocked e-mail list. hahaha

AAH,

The Colts didn't release Vander-whatever. He's on the injured list. Stover is only filling in while he recovers.

Heh .. lets call a spad a spad .. none of the losses REALLY depended on a 'kick' !! The sappy offense will be the undoing of this team. If you wanna cut somebody, cut that retread, head coach wannabe, offensive o-coordinator Cam Cameron !!!

Bill F,

Vandgejagt is the old drunk colts kicker. He's in the CFL now I believe. Viniterei is thier current hurt kicker, who isnt coming back anytime soon.

Gano is in the UFL, what about him?

I'm not sure why we have to combine two separate situations into one issue.

Letting Stover go was the right call. If all you can do is kick under-40-yard field goals, you aren't very valuable, no matter how good you are on those kicks. If we had a receiver who was small, old and couldn't run, but never ever dropped a pass, should we keep them because if they are able to get open they will catch the pass for a five-yard reception?

Going into the season with Hauschka is something different. Whether we should have gone with an essentially unproven player or looked for a veteran for a team with Super Bowl aspirations and a history of needing a good kicker was always a question.

But one has nothing to do with the other.

I still maintain that Stover would not have been a better option THIS YEAR.

Yes he's been great in the past, but he was only 50% from 40+ yards last year, so there's a 50% chance we would have the exact same record if Stover was still the kicker. He was just as likely to miss that 43 yarder in Minneapolis (really the only kick that's cost us anything this year).

I think it's an exaggeration to say that we should have definitely kept Stover. Ozzie made the BEST decision he could have at the time. Just because Hauschka didn't pan out immediately doesn't mean he won't somewhere else. Lets not forget: Stover didn't become automatic till he was 30.

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Pete's reply: Hans, you're on the money here, but Hauschka will have a tougher time catching on again because he doens't have a track record.

To the comment alluding to Brian Billick on the Miles River- Correction -His place is on the Wye River.

Pete, It's a little sad to hear about Hauschka, but if he's good enough he'll get another chance somewhere. What a mistake getting rid of Stover though; didn't the Ravens know that kickers can go on and on and on?

OOH, Technically, I'm not sure it's fair (or clinically correct, for that matter) to refer to Vanderjagt an "old drunk colts kicker." Yes, Manning memorably called him "our idiot kicker who got liquored up and ran his mouth off," but one occasion of getting "liquored up" scarcely qualifies him as a drunk. It may, however, be both fair and clinically correct to call him an idiot. LOL

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/football/news/2003/02/02/manning_vanderjagt_ap/

I'm sorry to see the Hauschka endeavor come to its ultimate demise, as I was one of the few who agreed with the coaching staff, that we needed one kicker for both kickoffs and field goals and Matt Stover clearly wasn't that guy. But that brings me to a point that I think most people are missing in all of this. Hauschka wasn't just missing field goals. His kickoffs were average to poor, as well. His 4 kickoffs last night landed at the 4, 5, 22, and 11. He wasn't even doing well at the thing he was supposed to be superior at. Good luck, Steve. But more importantly, good luck John and Ozzie.

If that was really billick, you talked a little to much and not enough results for people to listen to your talk. We should have kept both kickers developed one and kept a legend because he deserves the respect. I agree Harbaugh or Ozzie or both should be accountable. Why do we let players go like dilfer and stover go that help us so much. Think about we wouldn't let Ray go, then why let those guys go. Great Job ozzie being cheap once again. Harbaugh you shouldnt be allowed to cutt legends on our team when you havent done anything.

Why shouldn't we be happy that Haushcka was released by the Ravens today? He was a liability and the team is better without him. This shouldn't be confused with reveling in his personal disappointment or wishing him poorly in the future, which I don't think anyone would do even without being reminded.

It didn't take until this point for everyone to realize that cutting Stover was a boneheaded move- it never, in fact, made perfect sense. On one hand the Ravens said both field goal accuracy and booming kickoffs into the end zone were important. Then they made a decision that got them neither. And why? To keep the next young superstar on the roster? More likely to keep someone like Frank Walker.

And for the "if it's coming down to a field goal you've got bigger problems" crowd, I'll offer this: 24% of NFL games over the past two decades were decided by three points or less. So in any season four games could be decided by a single field goal- that's the difference between a playoff bye and being out of the postseason entirely. So why would we make a decision to cut Stover- someone who has thrived in precisely those games that come down to a pressure kick? If kickoffs and field goals are important, carry two players. Hell, carry three if you want to have someone who can specialize in 50 yarders! I'd rather have than than a disaster like we've had with Hauschka and Frank Walker any day...

I feel sorry for the kid but he just wasn't gonna cut it. When he missed that 36-yarder and had the PAT blocked against the Browns it sealed the deal for him.

I agreed with the decision to part with Stover, it was going to happen sooner or later and his range had deteriorated. The Patriots parted with Adam Vinateri, these things happen. Unfortunately, Hauschka just didn't end up being a Stephen Gostkowski.

Harbaugh is supposed to be a special teams genious, but that was a bonehead move of him to get rid of Stover. Otherwise, we'd at least be 6-3. Matt is one of the greatest kickers in NFL history! It was classless that Harbaugh didn't even allow Matt a chance to compete for the job this season.

The Ravens went to the AFC Championship with what was basically Brian Billick's team. Harbaugh made a lot of roster moves and the (replaced) players who were hand picked have not been panning out this year. Harbaugh needs to get things together...fast!

Hey Pete,
I'm certainly glad that we didn't let Hauschka stick around and kick poorly for his first 3 seasons... like the Browns did with Stover (72% accuracy rate)!

Pete,
I alluded to this earlier, but in Stover's first year (1991) he was accurate 72% (16/22) of the time. Now, before you say that Cleveland was not competitive, the 6-10 Browns lost 5 of their games by 3 points or less. The argument could be made that Stover deserved to be cut by the end of the season. But Cleveland's coach kept him.

Not only did he keep him after the first mediocre season, but after the 2nd and 3rd - during which each season Stover was successful 72% of his attempts. The Browns lost another 6 games those seasons by less than 3 points.

If those 11 games ended up as wins the 20-28 Browns would have been 31-17.

I'm not saying that Stover was to blame for all those loses - but he easily could have been the scapegoat. And lets face it, that is what we have made Hauschka despite dozens of legit reasons why we actually lost those 2 games that missed kicks in.

We have also blamed Harbaugh. But, I for one blame him for not having the guts to stick with Hauschka if he felt like he was going to end up being a really good kicker. After all, Bill Belicheck must have seen something more out of Stover in 1991-93 when he coached the Browns than the fans and the rest of the league did..

Matt Stover missed 20 field goals and 2 extra points his first 3 years in the league. He also missed 11 in his last 2 years with Baltimore. Kickers (for the most part) need time and patience to develop. It's really unfortunate because in today's NFL, you don't get time to develop unless a team has a ton of money tied up in you (see Boller, Kyle).

Lets put down the kool-aid for a second here. We got beat by the Bengals. Twice. We're not a super bowl team this year. It wouldn't have hurt to let Hauschka develop on a pretty good Ravens team this year so he'd be better prepared for a good run next year. I'd much rather have a guy who's trying to break into the league as my kicker than pick up some has-been who's not on an NFL roster for a reason.

Hauschka a nice kid. So was Kyle Boller. Enough said.

Hauschka a nice kid. So was Kyle Boller. Enough said.

With the total lack of understanding and knowledge that SCHMUCK displays, he should have been put into the HISTORY class 60 years ago.

Too many people are forgetting the fact that Stover was able to kick the ball off deep with all those misses in his early years. This guy did great at kickoffs last year but fell way off this year. Matt was always on stand-by here but the Colts got to him first. BTW would you rather them keep two kickers at the expense of four return touchdowns a year? Because that what you give up when you have to cut one of your special teams aces.

A HAUSCHKA HAIKU

Winter is coming
Divine winds push kicks wide left
Steve can't hurt us now

Despite what many may think there is actually some strategy involved in kicking off. It's not just go out and bang it. Direction and hang time count and intentionally sacrificing distance to keep it out of a guys hands all factor in to the play. This being the case, Hauschka was better than almost anyone gives him credit for. No TDs returned despite kicking off to four of the most dangerous return men in the game in E. Royal, Sproles, Harvin and Cribbs. And despite a number of intentional squib kicks, he was in the top half of the league in KO distance. He couldn't buy TB as most every kick into the endzone was brought out by these aggressive returners.

MIN game was costly but he also won us a game in SD when he hit a clutch 4th Q FG to put us up 5. Thanks to the D that let Rivers get to the redzone on the final drive SD would have won with a FG but had to go for it.

I also don't think he had anything to do with the plan to spot two good teams 14 pts apiece in the first qtr. People are under some spell if they think that getting Nugent or whomever will make up for lacking a big play receiver or or a secondary that is vulnerable at best.

Maybe this wasn't the year to dump Stover but it might also prove to have been the wrong time to dump Hauschka. If there were never any change people would have a nice collection of veteran players who aren't quite as good as they were but nobody minds because its comfortable.

Choosing Hauschka was the smart move and he had been on the team for some time. Letting him go so quickly however, is the mistake. Take Stover out of the equation. You have to nurture these guys. Does anyone remember how Vinateiri was kicking earlier in the year with the Patriots when they got their first Superbowl title? If you recall, during that snow game where he made the kick of a lifetime, all game they were talking up about how inconsistent he was and the lack of faith in him. That all changed now, didn't it?

Now all we have to choose from are a bunch of bums that nobody wants. Tried and true losers. At least with Hauschka there was potential; and how many kickers even have a 50+ yarder under their belt, let alone with their first career field goal. Letting him go now is the stupid decision.

Big Shane - Please share with us where you have found "the fact" about Stover's kickoff abilities early in his career... because I am willing to bet that if Hauschka had a 20 year career many will say that he kicked off pretty well in the beginning of his career also. As a matter of fact, they may point that to be the reason why he would have replaced a HOF kicker...

tom t - Quit giving away my location! I don't want Danny Snyder to find me.
James - Don't be a churl.

Stover, Haushka, who cares? What a stupid discussion. The woeful Ravens go far beyond kicking problems. The kicking they need is to kick the GM out of his office, and get one with some brains. Why isn't Ozzie ever held accountable for stupid decisions? How can a man keep his job for 14 years simply because he got his first two draft picks right? He hasn't drafted an NFL-caliber WR EVER. His last several drafts have been woeful. The only thing we have to show from April is Oher. He traded three picks for and paid McGahee $40 million. Frank Walker is still on the team. Our corners are Fabian and Foxworthless ($27 million). Chris McAlister is about to sign on the team that will play the Colts in the Super Bowl. He let Scott go and signed T. Fizzle. He let Leonhard go and kept Landry. I just want to know when Newsome will finally take some responsibility. Or, is he protected by Affirmative Action laws?

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Pete's reply: Jeez, don't overreact or anything. I think the drafts where he got Haloti Ngata, Flacco, Ray Rice, Lardarius Webb and Michael Oher over the past three or four years were pretty good.

Ozzie keeps his job because 1) his percentage of quality draft picks versus about 90% of the league during his tenure gives him leeway. 2) The NFL is a league where Top Tier quarterbacks are THE reason you win Superbowls, and there are about 3 or 4 every decade that emerge (Brady, Manning, Big Rothe up in Pittsburgh). Ozzie created a formula where you could win consistently without one, and even won a Superbowl with that formula. Now that HE DRAFTED FLACCO he can tweak that formula 3) An Ozzie-built team went to the AFC Championship game exactly ONE SEASON AGO.

So, bad free agent signings this year? He also signed Trevor Pryce, Derrick Mason, Jim Leonhard, Sam Adams, Tony Siragusa, Mike McCrary, Samari Rolle (who people would love this year), Kelley Washington, etc. Guy has his share of success stories.

Every team gambles with personnel decisions. Harbaugh seems to have wanted to build his team his way, and a few roster decisions have comeback to bite him. In the end, this team may have just been broken by losing three consecutive games by a combined margin of less than 20 points. Ozzie's consistency for building competitive teams is apparent. You don't hear ONE national pundit, columnist or NFL media persona calling for Ozzie's head. Why? because they know 90% of the league is run by idiots when you compare it to Ozzie's record.

Oh, and as a white dude, got to say I love the subtle (and not so subtle) jabs thrown at Ozzie.
Crazysuburbanwhiteatcomputersayswhat?

Successful athletes have routines. Sometimes, they even morph into superstitions.

Hauschka has no routine. He practices away by swinging his leg into a ball without anything being repetitive, or anything being envisioned.

I didn't like him last year. I know zip about the doodle who "challenged" Hauschka during training camp/preseason, but I liked him better by default, and will like Hausckka's replacement by default.

I had many students like Hauschka. Most never get it.

I'm sure he's a nice guy. Most routineless athletes are nice guys. It takes a certain grimness to repeat things the same way time after time -- regardless if it is in Westminster with five people watching or a dome named after a loser presidential candidate with five million people watching.

Hauschka's willingness to face the media was admirable. Very admirable. Sorry, but that's not enough.

It's too bad KC took Mr. Irrelevant in the draft. That's the guy Ozzie wanted, and he has the right way of going about his business.