Green Bay Packers: Mason Crosby vital to team’s success
By Hunter Noll
The Green Bay Packers head into the 2017 season as Super Bowl contenders, but Mason Crosby remains an underrated key to competing at that level.
Kicker Mason Crosby has been with the Green Bay Packers his entire career. He joined the NFL in 2007, and honestly, put up pretty mediocre numbers at first.
Crosby hit under 80 percent of his field goals in each of his first four seasons. In 2011, though, he bumped it up to 85.7 percent and made a new career-long (58 yards). That was followed by his worst season in the NFL however (63.6 percent in 2012).
Since then, Crosby has become a much more consistent leg. He hit a career-best 89.2 percent of his field goal attempts in 2013. Then in 2014, he knocked in 81.8 percent, and followed that up with 85.7 percent in 2015. Finally, last season Crosby hit 86.7 percent (26-for-30) of his field goals. That’s good enough for the seventh highest percentage out of all NFL kickers with 30-plus attempts.
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In the today’s NFL, kickers are often overlooked. That’s simply due to the fact that nothing they do tends to be highlight worthy. Outside of game-winning kicks, or a massive mistake, how often do you see kickers in the recap?
When it comes down to it, though, kickers tend to win-or-lose games on multiple occasions throughout a season. In the Packers’ case? Crosby tends to win them.
Look no further than the playoffs last season for a perfect example. Against the Dallas Cowboys, Crosby went 2-for-2 and made all four of his extra points. Both of his field goals were from 50-plus, and one was the game-winner. The Packers won 34-31.
Of course, you could argue that Aaron Rodgers was more important, or Micah Hyde even. They get their attention, though; it’s Crosby who’s overlooked.
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With such a good roster heading into the season, the Packers are definitely Super Bowl contenders. A great kicker can separate a good team from the rest of the pack. Mason Crosby can do just that.