Packers: Hold off your pitchforks for kicker Mason Crosby

Hold off your pitchforks for Packers kicker Mason Crosby.

Green Bay Packers kicker Mason Crosby had arguably the worst game of his career against the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday, and that’s okay to admit.

But please, hold off your pitchforks and torches for the future Packers’ Hall-of-Famer.

Crosby was 4/7 on field-goal attempts against the Bengals, as well as being 1/2 on extra-point attempts. All three of his missed FG attempts came in the fourth quarter/overtime. Seven FG attempts is a career-high for the 37-year-old Packers veteran.

I’m gonna immediately point back to the infamous Lions game that took place on October 7, 2018. A week five game against the Lions saw Crosby go 1/5 on FG attempts and 0/1 on XP attempts. Fans were immediately calling for Crosby to be cut, and maybe rightfully so, but he bounced back and had a fantastic rest of the season in 2018.

From that fatal game up until today’s Deja-Vu like experience of a game, Crosby only missed a total of four field goals. That’s 1,100 days with only four missed FGs – something that only a legend like Crosby can pull off.

Crosby is beloved by Packers fans, the team and the organization. To cut him after his first bad game in over three years wouldn’t only be a severe overreaction, but would also be a fatal mistake. We’ve seen one legendary run from Crosby after a bad game, and I’d bet we’re about to see another one as the 2021 season rolls on.

Even despite his earlier struggles, Crosby was still able to notch a 49-yard game-winning field goal in overtime. While Crosby’s struggles would cost the Packers in the previously-mentioned Lions game, he was able to still win the game for the team when it counted the absolute most.

Mason Crosby has a backlog of memorable moments and clutch plays for the Packers, and it would be a large mistake to toss our version of “Ol’ Reliable” to the side just for missing a few kicks.

Long live “Money Mason” in a green and gold uniform.