Pats cheat again by distracting Cundiff?

I know he's paid to make those kicks,But I've read articles saying he was distracted by the scoreboard and some fans?
First off,Is that legal?Fans can be rowdy and scream and yell,But to purposely distract someone by using the scoreboard?I'm not saying I believe everything I read,But knowing those cheaters and Belicheat,You never know?What are your thoughts about this?

 

Doesn't surprise me

 

Ridiculous. Cundiff missed a FG he should have made, period.

 

I guess there's no proof that it was on purpose or a conspiracy, but it's true that the Patriots personnel operating the scoreboard made an error, intentional or not, that made Cundiff rush when he didn't need to. Yes, they run hurry up drills, but this was not supposed to be hurry up. They had all the time in the world, and a timeout. This was supposed to be normal timing.

What happened was, the down counter on the scoreboard was off by one. On 2nd down, it said 1st . On 3rd, it said 2nd, etc. And apparently the scoreboard down counter is what Cundiff uses to know when to go on the field. He's not watching the game directly because he's warming up at the kicker's practice net. Also, as a kicker, he has a very fastidious mental routine he goes through, down by down.

So on 3rd down he thought it was only 2nd. Then 4th down comes, and he's not prepared because he thinks it's 3rd, because that's what the scoreboard says and that's what he can see. I assume someone yelled at him to get his ass on the field, and so that's why he didn't even arrive until everyone else on the FG team was set and ready. Never mind his routine.

All that said, yeah, he shoulda made it, and he also shoulda called timeout if he'd rather get his routine right. He probably isn't confident enough to call a timeout. I know none of our players are, even when that's what we need to do to win a game and Ben wants to spike it. Harbaugh also shoulda called timeout, but he was probably looking after his own ass by not wanting to "ice" his own kicker, and preferred to rush him and hope Cundiff made it anyway. An epic mistake. Icing is a mostly mythical science that kickers can beat, if it even affects them at all. It gives them enough time to repeat their routines that they had already gone through. Ask how many of them want to be surprise-rushed.

 

Very good point!

 

I will forever remember this play as the Rats and Harbaugh lost and still had a timeout in their possession.

Could have made all the difference in the world.

Pats have done, still do and will always cheat but the fact remains Harbuagh was an idiot and they lost the game because of it. Not Cundiff's shank so much as he was very hurried in setting up to kick it.