Ravens Kicker Stover Is Accurate

OWINGS MILLS, Md. (AP) â€” Even in his younger days, Matt Stover couldn't kick the ball as far as Sebastian Janikowski, his counterpart on the Oakland Raiders. <br><br>The 5-foot-11, 178-pound Stover

Thursday, January 11th 2001, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

OWINGS MILLS, Md. (AP) â€” Even in his younger days, Matt Stover couldn't kick the ball as far as Sebastian Janikowski, his counterpart on the Oakland Raiders.

The 5-foot-11, 178-pound Stover has the body of an accountant. Janikowski, who's two inches taller and 77 pounds heavier, could pass for a linebacker.

In the matchup of kickers in the AFC championship game, Janikowski is carrying a bazooka for a leg and Stover is packing a pistol. But the only placekicker the Baltimore Ravens have ever had can hit the center of the target almost every time.

Stover's strong suit is accuracy, a quality that enabled him to earn his first trip to the Pro Bowl and a spot on the All-Pro team. He led the NFL in scoring while making 35 of 39 field-goal attempts and all 30 of his conversion tries.

``All that is great, but I'm staying humble,'' Stover said Wednesday. ``Being a kicker in this league, I know you're only as good as your next kick.''

Just ask Tennessee's Al Del Greco, whose miserable afternoon last Sunday was a key factor in the Ravens' 24-10 victory.

``You just never know. You keep your mouth shut and kick the ball,'' Stover said, shaking his head at the memory. ``Al Del Greco is one of the game's best kickers. Nobody was more accurate from 1990 to last year than he was. In no way do I feel like he's a bad kicker. But can you have a bad day? Yeah.''

Those were rare for Stover this season. Now in his 11th year, Stover scored a career-high 135 points and served as the team's lone source of offense during a stretch in which the Ravens went five straight games without a touchdown.

``The fact that I had as many field goals as I did made an impression on the Pro Bowl voters,'' he said. ``I had a lot of field goals and a lot of points, and I was winning games with those points.''

He needs a windstorm behind his back before he will even attempt a 55-yarder, but Stover is almost automatic from 45 yards and closer.

``I had a lot longer ball earlier in my career, but I had to learn how to shrink my form down and create better accuracy,'' he said. ``My first two years, I was a 73 percent kicker. I asked myself, `How am I going to stay in this league?' The answer is to make your field goals.''

In addition to changing his form, Stover decided he could improve his accuracy by kicking at goal posts separated by 9 feet, half the real distance between the posts.

``You see 9 feet between the posts, then go back to the regular width, it makes it look like they're a mile apart,'' Stover said.

He hopes they look that way Sunday when he plays his first game in Oakland (he faced the Raiders twice when they were in Los Angeles).

``Everything that happened this season was wonderful,'' Stover said, ``but now it's time to get down and dirty and win two more games.''