Mason Crosby had himself a day against the Bengals… a bad day. The Packers’ kicker missed three straight field goals and one extra point in Cincinnati on Sunday. However, he redeemed himself by kicking a game-winning 49-yard field goal in overtime to give Green Bay the victory.
Following today’s game, fans and commentators questioned whether he should or will have a future with Green Bay.
So, should the Packers be worried about Crosby after his poor showing against the Bengals? The answer is no, and here are three reasons why.
#1: Crosby has had bad games before and always bounces back.
As reliable as Crosby has been his entire career, he’s struggled in individual games in the past. Remember October 7th, 2018 in Detroit? Crosby missed five kicks — four field goals and one extra point — against the Lions that afternoon. However, he bounced back, just as I expect him to after today’s ugly outing.
#2: Crosby was kicking as well as he ever had before this game.
It’s not like Crosby’s poor performance today came on the heels of other bad showings. In fact, it was the complete opposite. Crosby had made 27 consecutive field goals before his first miss this afternoon. In his 15th NFL season, Crosby was kicking arguably the best he ever has before this afternoon’s dud. Therefore, today shouldn’t be looked at as a sign of regression as he ages, but rather as an anomaly.
#3: Crosby is confident in himself and so is his team.
Crosby hasn’t lost any confidence in himself. “I have no doubt in my ability and what I’m going to do; reload and go onto the next one. We’re just going to keep grinding with the process,” he said in his post-game press conference.
Additionally, Crosby’s teammates and coaches have the utmost confidence in his abilities. Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers said he believed in his good friend and even questioned if something wrong with the kicking operation was somehow hindering Crosby, rather than him just having an off game. Running back Aaron Jones told Crosby he loved him before he attempted the game winner.
Head coach Matt LaFleur and the offense faced fourth & inches deep in Cincinnati territory. Instead of keeping his offense on the field, LaFleur gave Crosby the nod to kick the game winner, even after he missed three consecutive kicks. In his press conference, LaFleur admitted that he asked Crosby what he thought about kicking it instead of going for the first down. Crosby said, “I got this.” LaFleur responded by saying, “All right, you got it. Go do it.” And he did.
“I think there’s just some things that we absolutely need to clean up just from an operation standpoint,” LaFleur said, via Rob Demovsky of ESPN.com. “You can’t put all of that on Mason. I thought there’s some areas that we have to make sure we get corrected, and we will.”
Clearly, those closest to Mason Crosby still have the utmost confidence and trust in him, so why shouldn’t we?
Crosby will have the chance to redeem himself next weekend in Chicago when the Packers take on the Bears at Soldier Field.
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