Ravens tight end Todd Heap said teammate Matt Stover, the team?s kicker, has been holding back.
Heap watched on from the sideline Sunday as Stover, who has long been considered out of range beyond the 40-yard line, kicked a 52-yarder to give the Ravens a last-minute 15-14 win over the Browns.
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“Oh yeah, I watched and I figured out Stover?s been cheating us,” Heap joked. “He told us we need to get him to the 30-yard line, and we only got him to the 33. He still punched it through.”
It could have been the winds of Lake Eerie that aided the 38-year-old veteran.
“We had the wind behind us, I won?t mind to tell you,” Stover said. “With that, you still have to hit the ball well. I had a lot of people behind [me], and that sense of ?You?ve got it,? it just helps.”
Stover has connected on 29 consecutive kicks dating back to last season and now has 12 game-winning field goals in his career. The final of his three kicks against the Browns was the longest game-winner in his 17-year career. His 32 points this season have elevated him to 1,636 for his career, eighth all-time in the NFL and eight behind John Carney for seventh on the list. He ranks third all-time in the NFL in field-goal consistency.
Thrust once again into the spotlight Sunday, Stover has been one of the constants throughout the Ravens? 11-year history. He is the lone holdover from the old Cleveland Browns after that team moved to Baltimore and began play here in 1996.
In Sunday?s final quarter, Stover booted two field goals to help the Ravens erase a 14-3 deficit. Stover and teammate Ray Lewis share a deep religious bond, and the two men shared a conversation before the final kick about letting go.
Lewis said afterward of Stover: “It was just overwhelming the way me and him … agreed. The way our faith was.”
“Ray and I have each other?s backs for quite some time now,” Stover said. “Even though I?m a kicker, I know that.”
