Let’s hope it’s a different era in pro football than when even Michael Strahan played football.

Strahan, a former star lineman, is a Fox Sports analyst. On Sunday, following a failed chip-shot field goal by Baltimore Ravens kicker Billy Cundiff at the end of the game, Strahan remarked about what he would say to Cundiff if he were a Raven: “I’d say, ‘If you’re back here next year, we got a problem.’”

Ever since the New England Patriots came on strong in 2002 and subsequent years displaying a disciplined team approach to everything, many clubs these days copy that team mentality. They are supposed to be professionals, after all. It has been a slow shift in the NFL after decades of star braggarts but a refreshing one nevertheless.

By supporting Cundiff, the Ravens showed they win and lose as a team. They gain much more going into next season than they would if they vilified the kicker.

Strahan failed to note that the Ravens offense, down by 3 points, had multiple chances to get into the end zone at the end and win the game outright. The offense failed. How many chances did Cundiff get to tie the game? One. And he was hurried because the scoreboard he was watching had indicated third down, not fourth, so he had to rush onto the field to beat the play clock. If anything, the Ravens coach probably should have called a timeout.

Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis is a class act. He defended Cundiff.

“As a man, I said it earlier: Not one play won or lost this game,” Lewis said. “Could you have put us in a position to keep playing? Absolutely, but one play didn’t win or lose the game. There is no one man who has ever lost a game.”

A similar take is happening with the San Francisco 49ers, which lost Sunday to the New York Giants. Punt returner Kyle Williams is getting heat for fumbling at the end that game. His teammates, rightly, came to his defense, too.

Strahan has a gasbag. Stir controversy is what those TV football analysts are paid to do.

Cundiff took it all in stride: “I’ve had enough adversity in my career that this is just another part of the journey.”

We look forward to seeing Cundiff in a Ravens uniform next fall.

Go teams that act like teams.