Playing in a dome is usually a dream for most NFL kickers, but that dream turned into a nightmare on Sunday for Mason Crosby.
The Packers kicker had a meltdown at Ford Field, missing a total of five kicks in Green Bay's 31-23 loss to the Lions. The five misses cost the Packers a total of 13 points.
Crosby was all over the place in the game, missing from close range (on an extra point), medium range (41, 42 and 38 yards) and he even had one miss from long range (56 yards). With his 1 of 5 showing on field goals and 0-for-1 showing on extra points, Crosby became the first kicker since 1997 to miss four field goals and an extra point in the same game.
After the game, Crosby sounded as surprised as anyone at his performance.
"Well, obviously shocked; it's never happened to me," Crosby said, via ESPN.com. "That's never happened to me. It doesn't happen. So I'm going to evaluate it but I'm going to [chalk] it up to something that is an anomaly in life that I've never even been a part of. So I'm going to evaluate the details like I do every week and move on. Because that one for me is something that I've never been a part of and hope to never be part of again."
Crosby also referred to his four missed field goals as "uncharted territory," which sounds exactly right, especially when you consider the fact that Crosby only missed four field goals during the entire 2017 season. Crosby also only missed four kicks in the 2016 and 2015 seasons. Against the Lions, he equaled that total in one game.
"Every attempt I felt like I was in rhythm going through it. It was one of those days that just wasn't there," Crosby said. "I've done this a long time, and I've never had a day where it wasn't there like that. We'll look at it, look at every facet of it and flush it."
Things got so bad for Crosby that he threw away his cleats and switched to a new pair after his third miss.
"Something had to go," Crosby said. "I kind of made an adjustment and -- I have three or four pairs broken in every game so it's not unusual for me to do that. But I felt like I needed something to try to spur on the next one."
The good news for Crosby is that it sounds like his teammates still have his back. Aaron Rodgers is now in his 12th season as Crosby's teammate and he says he still has plenty of faith in the Packers kicker.
"I think he's one of the greatest kickers of all time,"Rodgers said. "I've always said he and Robbie Gould, what they do in the elements over the years is some of the finest kicking that I've seen in my time. Obviously he's disappointed. I don't think he expected this. We have a ton of faith in him. He's done it for a long time, made some big kicks for us over the years. They've got to clean the operation up: snap, hold and he's got to make them."
Although the Packers likely won't be making any changes at the kicker position, things could get dicey if Crosby continues to struggle. Crosby will have a chance to put the Lions game behind him in Week 6 when the Packers host the 49ers on "Monday Night Football."
