Green Bay Packers: Mason Crosby rewards faith in his leg

The Green Bay Packers could’ve dropped Mason Crosby after his miserable Week 5 without much thought. Instead, he rewarded their faith in Week 6.

Mason Crosby missed his first four field attempts and his only extra point attempt before knocking through a 41-yarder with two seconds left in Week 5. It culminated in a 31-23 loss for the Green Bay Packers and a rough week for the veteran kicker.

There were plenty of people speculating as to whether or not the Packers would cut the kicker after the historically miserable performance. Green Bay was level-headed about the situation, however. One simple stat should tell you why the wise thing would be to keep Crosby — he was 10-for-11 on the year before that game.

Green Bay kept Crosby and he immediately rewarded them the following week. The kicker went 4-for-4 on field goals and 3-for-3 on extra point attempts on Monday Night Football against the San Francisco 49ers. Those four field goals included a 51-yarder and a game-winner as time expired.

While making 75 percent of your field goals on the season still isn’t exactly ideal, it’s a nice turnaround from last week. Crosby showcased all three intangibles that has made him a roster mainstay for the Packers since 2007. The power came through on his 51-yarder, and the accuracy shined by going a combined 7-for-7 on kicks. Of course, the clutch factor was major with the game-winning kick as well.

Crosby’s big performance helped get the Packers to 3-2-1 on the season heading into a bye week. That makes his game even more important both to the team and the individual.

The difference between going into a bye week with a winning or losing record is monstrous. At the same time, Crosby now has something extremely positive to build off of instead of having to sit on a terrible game for an extra week.

Mason Crosby has been one of the better kickers in the NFL for a while now. Week 5 was uncharacteristic and it was the right move by the Green Bay Packers to stick by him. It’s safe to assume the 34-year old is already back in the good graces of the team and the fans.