January 22nd, 2012 at 10:32 PM ^
Cost more vets a super bowl especially Lewis.
January 23rd, 2012 at 8:16 AM ^
Lewis already has a super bowl, and already was involved with a murder. So I do not feel too bad for him.
January 22nd, 2012 at 10:49 PM ^
Let's be honest, there's no bigger goat, than Billy Goat Gruff
January 23rd, 2012 at 9:00 AM ^
Cundiff comes running in with about 7 seconds left on the play clock. Where was he? It's not like he didn't know they were going to kick. Was he anticipating the 'icing of the kicker' play? Definitely the bigger goat.
January 23rd, 2012 at 10:21 AM ^
Credit Belichek, too for not trying to ice the kicker -- perhaps recognizing that the Raven's unit was in disarray.
(p.s. -- no, I didn't mean for that to sound dirty)
January 23rd, 2012 at 10:08 AM ^
I am going to have to disagree.
Williams gave up 7 points off his first turnover, and then 3 points off his second turn over, ultimately losing them the game. You take him out of the equation, 49ers won.
The Ravens team could have done something to score a touchdown, or score more points earlier, or hold off the pats. But, you don't blame one person for one missed shot, it will happen, and it wouldn't have won them the game. Sure, at the end of the game, the Ravens COULD have tied it up with a field goal, and then went on to POSSIBLY win in overtime, but Williams straight up lost the 49ers the game by allowing the giants to go to overtime in the first place, and then giving them the field position in OT to win.
January 22nd, 2012 at 10:32 PM ^
And he did it twice!
January 22nd, 2012 at 10:34 PM ^
I'm on board this line of thinking. Cundiff missed one FG - Williams messed up two punts.
January 22nd, 2012 at 10:32 PM ^
Lee Evans.
January 22nd, 2012 at 10:40 PM ^
I agree
January 22nd, 2012 at 10:32 PM ^
The two fumbles. After the first you think ball security would be in your head.
January 22nd, 2012 at 10:33 PM ^
Both are equally schadenfreude worthy. Don't think there's a way to measure one over the other
January 22nd, 2012 at 10:34 PM ^
by Williams makes him the bad luck guy of the day.
January 22nd, 2012 at 10:34 PM ^
I wouldn't want to be either one of those guys but Williams had two bad plays. He will be released tomorrow.
January 22nd, 2012 at 10:34 PM ^
Fumbles are not supposed to happen, and twice, once in OT...bad.
January 22nd, 2012 at 10:35 PM ^
Giants vs. Pats THE SEQUEL
January 22nd, 2012 at 10:36 PM ^
Cundiff can share the blame with someone else. Evans should have hung onto that ball and given Baltimore a touchdown.
Williams gets all the blame for the 49ers loss.
January 23rd, 2012 at 8:50 AM ^
The fact that Cundiff shouldered the entire blame during his press conference makes me respect him. He said "I get paid to make field goals, not miss them." He also said that he is trying to set an example for his two kids by owning up to his mistake. That takes a lot of balls to say on national tv.
January 22nd, 2012 at 10:36 PM ^
Williams by a mile. Kickers sometimes miss FGs, but when you fumble two returns, especially in close games like this, you are not going to hear the end of it.
January 22nd, 2012 at 10:36 PM ^
January 22nd, 2012 at 10:37 PM ^
Cundiff. Williams is only in there because Ginn couldn't go today whereas Cundiff's only job is to not fuck up what his teammates earn on the field.
January 22nd, 2012 at 10:38 PM ^
After your defense comes up with yet another big stop, that was just terrible.
January 22nd, 2012 at 10:38 PM ^
greatest .of .all .time
January 22nd, 2012 at 10:40 PM ^
I put the blame for the NE/BAL game on the guy who dropped the game-winning touchdowns. They are both goats, since that was a short field goal, but why leave it to your kicker to tie and got to OT when YOU CAUGHT THE BALL IN THE ENDZONE AND LET A GUY KNOCK IT OUT OF YOUR HANDS MICROSECONDS BEFORE IT WOULDN'T HAVE MATTERED ANYWAY.
All caps brought to you by a friend of mine whom I know will look very depressed when I next see him.
January 22nd, 2012 at 10:41 PM ^
January 22nd, 2012 at 10:41 PM ^
your only job is to kick field goals, and you miss a relatively easy one in a monumental game
two muffs is still pretty bad
January 22nd, 2012 at 10:42 PM ^
Even if Cundiff hits the FG it still goes to OT, Williams first fumble cost the 49ers the game in regulation, the second one handed NY the win.
January 23rd, 2012 at 4:26 AM ^
Williams. Because if they would have gone to triple OT, you just know he would have F'd up yet again.
January 22nd, 2012 at 10:46 PM ^
If Evans would have secured the ball, Cundiff would not have been needed.
January 22nd, 2012 at 10:46 PM ^
Williams. The first one was plain stupid - you either need to commit to getting the ball, or get out of the way. He couldn't make up his mind, and that one mistake was bad enough. But adding the fumble is OT is horrible, so it has to be him.
If Cundiff makes that FG, I still think the Pats win. If Williams doesn't fuck up that first punt, I think the 9ers would have run away with that game. It was a major swing.
January 22nd, 2012 at 10:51 PM ^
I hope the person that Kyle Williams loves most pushes him off the edge of cliff and as he's falling and wondering why this is happening Superman swoops him up and takes him and drops him from higher
January 22nd, 2012 at 10:58 PM ^
Cundiff is Finkle... Finkle is Cundiff!!!!
January 23rd, 2012 at 1:31 AM ^
But the laces were out! I checked.
January 22nd, 2012 at 10:59 PM ^
I'm leaning Williams, but it's pretty close. Even if Cundiff hits the field goal, the game just goes to OT and who knows what happens then. Yes, he missed it so they lost, but they still might have lost.
Williams 1) made two blunders (one of them inexplicable) and 2) because of where he muffed that second punt, pretty much guaranteed loss. Factor 2 is kind of balanced out by Cundiff since the missed kick did guarantee loss. So... they're both goats, and their names will forever be synonymous with failure in their two respective cities
January 22nd, 2012 at 11:00 PM ^
williams! 2fumbles and a muff. 3 turnovers that turned to points.
January 22nd, 2012 at 11:01 PM ^
Kyle Williams did the same thing when he was at ASU a few years ago. 2007 Holiday bowl against Texas. I feel bad for the kid. Gotta take care of that football.
January 22nd, 2012 at 11:04 PM ^
FWIW, San Fran clearly got outplayed by the Giants today (both teams came up big on defense while NY made way more key plays on offense). They were lucky the score was as close as it was.
Baltimore played the Pats tooth-and-nail in what was probably the most evenly played game of this postseason. I obviously rooted for New England but I couldn't help but feel bad for the Ravens with how that went down.
January 22nd, 2012 at 11:07 PM ^
actually the 9er's were the better team. the giants only got majority of their points off the stupid punt returner. 3 turn overs turned to points by 1 punt returner. if ted ginn played today and returned punts 9er's win.
January 22nd, 2012 at 11:10 PM ^
I would say Williams. The muffed punts led to the Giants final 6 points. I would say Lee Evans is the bigger goat than Cundiff.
January 23rd, 2012 at 9:37 AM ^
You would say, or you do say?
January 22nd, 2012 at 11:12 PM ^
Because it immediately killed the game. Muffing the punt didn't immediately sink the Niners. The damage done to one game was immediately fatal; in another game, one or perhaps even both muffs would not have destroyed the Niners' chances of winning the game given other continuations after the muffs.
January 22nd, 2012 at 11:13 PM ^
when the FG unit are clearly rushing to get the snap off for the FG, when John Harbaugh should've called a TO to regroup and calm down before lining up for a game tying FG? By not calling a TO, you are rushing the kicker to try to get his kick off before the game clock expired instead of having an composed kicker.
Kyle Williams shares a much bigger blame than Cundiff because he cost his team a win by making two stupid mistakes especially the first one where the ball hit his knee where he shouldn't have been near it to begin with.
January 22nd, 2012 at 11:34 PM ^
Not only that, but after the ball hit him, he just froze instead of trying to recover it. I really don't understand what he was thinking on that play.
January 23rd, 2012 at 4:30 AM ^
He was thinking that if he went after it, it would look like he touched it. If he lets it go like you normally would, it looks like nothing happened.
He did fool the ref. Unfortunately, he did not fool the replay.
January 22nd, 2012 at 11:14 PM ^
It was a painful reminder of our kick return game prior to 2011: 'Hang on to the damn ball!'
All of us can relate to that.
January 22nd, 2012 at 11:33 PM ^
Williams. He committed two boneheaded mistakes late in the game that led to Giants scores.
Cundiff didn't make a mistake, he's just a bad kicker.
January 23rd, 2012 at 4:31 AM ^
Actually he's a Pro Bowl kicker. Even the best screw up.
January 22nd, 2012 at 11:33 PM ^
Two trumps one, just numerically alone. Additionally, if Cundiff makes that kick, no assurance Baltimore wins (game would go to OT). If Williams doesn't make those "fumbles," San Francisco almost certainly wins that game.
January 22nd, 2012 at 11:38 PM ^
Not necessarily. There were 10 minutes left in regulation when Williams made his first mistake. On the second mistake, he fielded that punt fairly deep in Niners territory. Alex Smith hadn't played particularly well, so there's no guarantee that they would have been able to capitalize.