Give Shawn Slocum a Bane mask - have him break Crosby's leg - throw him in a Prison Hole - if Crosby climbs out with a new found determination or remembering the basics - then blah - if he can't climb - then get nate kaeding?
Someone suggested earlier for MM to "baby him" ...the only problem i have with that is doesn't that make him even more less confident? this is your range Mason but hey you're not dependable right now so i'd rather have my all pro qb and solid group of wr's go for it?? i'm all for that!!!! maybe it'll get his head out of his butt if he takes it personally.
his whole demeanor when we went for it on fourth down showed he`s taken it personally. The problem he KNOWS it was the right call too. Crosby needs to do whatever it takes to get out of this slump before it costs us a BIG game.
Kickers do not get picked up to often during season I think...But I am sure the wheels are spinning at 1265 on what if Mason misses more FG
Gary Anderson had a slump in the late 80's (either '87 or '88 because it was when I lived in western Ohio for two years) where he only hit something like 40% of his kicks over a month long stretch. Steeler fans were saying the same crap about him. ("He's washed up!" "He was never very good anyway." "There are plenty of guys they could sign off the street" etc...) When he came out of it, he ended up hitting all but one of his kicks for the remainder of the season.
You underestimate the role the holder has in a successful kick and how much of a skill holding is when you are expecting an 80%+ conversion rate, especially on anything past 40 yards. Okay, who would you put on the practice squad then?
Masthay needs to be in there too. He shares blame. Lot's of people here who has no clue into how complex a FG attempt is. I think it's time to link back to my post on the subject from a couple years ago: http://www.packerforum.com/threads/whats-with-all-the-crosby-hate.23777/page-6#post-317058
http://www.jsonline.com/sports/pack...by-alters-his-approach-1v7beo7-175723161.html That says it is Mason's issue--- this was from a month ago You have a coach saying it is the holder's issue?
Certainly we need a reliable kicker for the rest of this season. But we also need one for the next season as well. Kickers can always be found at some point in the season. Now an OLineman, which we desparately need, are not easy to locate. I remember Longwell having a difficult year in 200, his last as a Packer. A lot of it had to do with the change in holder that season after Doug Peterson departed. So he goes to the Vikings and pretty much never missed. Lombardi blundered in 1964 by not getting a full time reliable kicker. He went on to shop for veteran Don Chandler who kicked for us in those last 3 championship years.
Or take a look at the college stats, as I did yesterday. Of the stats of the top 10 kickers, some would be booed out of the NFL by today's standards. How often do we expect a college kicker to make even a 45 yd kick? They have the athletic ability (more so than some old fat nfl kicker) and supposedly it is an easy task, so why can't they make the kicks like we typically see made in the NFL? Oh and BTW, nice post GreenBlood. The holder is very important. I remember when B J Sander was holding for Longwell - he had a heck of a time making the extra points and in fact missed one that cost us a game. Longwell was very vocal about Sander as his holder as I remember.
I don't know a ton about kicking, but maybe the college % is less due to the fact that the hash marks are spread further apart and when you have that much more of an angle to kick from it might just more difficult to judge wind+ angle and adjust for it.
That's true. I forgot about that. Wasn't that the year he only made something like 68% of his kicks? People were ready to run him out on a rail too.
Some of the toughest kicks in football are college hashmark kicks from the 8 to 15 yard line, especially the right hashmark for a right-footed kicker.
True, but college goal posts are wider: "The goal posts are also different widths. The college uprights are 23′ 4″ apart, while the NFL gives its kickers a much narrower target – 18′ 6″ between the posts. This somewhat offsets the extra angle college kickers face with their wider hash-marks." http://www.espnamerica.com/oo/f1/hide-from-menu/differences-between-ncaa-and-nfl-football/
What to do with Crosby? Pray he regains his form from last season, because I don’t think he's going anywhere. McCarthy has said Crosby is mentally tough and Wayne Larrivee recently said he shares that opinion. When either of them says it, I get the feeling they mean compared to most kickers - although they don't say it. This will be a good test whether or not it's true. BTW I haven't heard a single complaint about, or criticism of, Goode the LS or Masthay the holder. It's certainly true that all three are vital to successful place kicking, but I think the problem resides solely with Mason. Mostly between his ears.
Remember Mike Vanderjagcht? or however you spell his name from Indy? He was one of the most decorated kickers in the league at one point. The guy went into a "slump" and kicked his way right out the league. A good kicker can play for about 18- 20 yr's if he's ACCURATE....leg strength is just a bonus. If crosby was accurate to go along with his leg strength he would be all world. He's not even a top five kicker in the league at his point... yet he makes a pretty good salary like a top 5 kicker would. Top kickers in the league imo. Two of these guy's are rookies btw, and Crosby's annual salary is more than 80% of the guy's on this list. I think he makes like 2.95 a yr *no particular order Blair Walsch Minnesota Greg Zuerlein St. Louis Robbie Gould Chicago (last yr of his contract) Matt Prater Denver Sebastian Janikowski Oakland Stephen Gostkowski New england David Akers San Fran
In the 2005 season Longwell missed an extra point that prevented the tie in game 2 against TB. It was a high snap and Sander could not handle it in time. In game 6 against MN, Longwell missed two field goals - we lost by 3. Longwell was gone after that season, only to be picked up my MN. Ironically, we lost in 2008 to MN via a missed Crosby 53 yd attempt with time running out 27/28. Crosby was 2 of 3 and Longwell 1 of 2 with a 54 yarder good. And now Longwell is gone,after giving MN some of his best years.
In 2001 Longwell has his worst year kicking FGs for Packers. He attempted 31 FGs and made 20 FGs (64 percent). In 2005 Longwell attempted 27 FGs and made 27 FGs (74 percent) Yet Longwell came back strong and kicked until 2011 with Vikings.
