When your coach gives you monthly votes of confidence, it is a pretty good sign that things haven’t been going your way on the football field.
Things have been going decidedly wrong for Packers kicker Mason Crosby for most of the year. He missed two field goals in Sunday’s 21-13 victory over the Bears, extending his streak to eight straight games with a missed field goal and dropping him to 17-of-29 on his attempts for the season. As you’d probably imagine, that’s the worst percentage in the league among qualified kickers by a large margin.
It isn’t enough for Crosby to lose his job, though. Just as he did last month, Packers coach Mike McCarthy has affirmed his support for Crosby in the mounting avalanche of missed kicks.
“We’re not changing our kicker, so you can write that down right now,” McCarthy said, via the Green Bay Press-Gazette. “He’s our guy. He needs to make those kicks. He knows that. We’re at that time of year.”
Crosby missed from 42 and 43 yards on Sunday and the Packers went for it on a fourth down in the third quarter instead of trying another one from 43 yards. They converted that fourth down and went on to a touchdown, but it’s pretty risky to pass on points come the postseason. McCarthy’s loyalty is laudable, but he can’t let it come at the expense of the other 52 players on the team.