Reaction: Packers Beat Buccaneers in Uneventful Game

My thoughts after Sunday's 20-3 win over the Buccaneers, the most boring game to watch in recent memory:

1. Packers Still Can't Play on the Road:

The defense was not the reason why Tampa Bay only made a field goal; Josh McCown was.

2. Crosby Again Not Looking Great:

He made a 42-yarder and a 25-yarder, but his second quarter miss of a 48-yarder is what I'll remember.

3. At Least it was a Win:

It wasn't an exciting contest to watch, nor was it a fun blowout. But I'll take it.

Leave your own reactions to this victory below.

Reaction: Packers Blowout Eagles to Move into First Place Tie

The Packers walked all over the Eagles 53-20 today in a fashion most probably didn't see coming. Here are my takeaways from it:

1. The Packers are the best team in the North:

After today, that seems clear enough. I know Mark Sanchez was starting, but wow, 53 points.

2. Mason Crosby:

I know the Packers won here by 33, but that doesn't mean Crosby looked particularly sharp. He barely made two short attempts, missed a usually-automatic 50-yarder, and had an extra point blocked. Might be something to think about.

3. Now the Road:

If this team is as elite as they seem, they'll do this same thing next week in Minnesota. Just getting a close victory would prove they're only good at home.

Leave your thoughts below.

Notes From Packers' 21-7 Win Over The Rams

Some notes from the Packers' 21-7 win over the Rams this afternoon:

Aaron Rodgers. Rodgers looked like his usual self today, completing 11/13 passes for 128 yards and a touchdown.

Mason Crosby. Crosby continued his great summer in this W, successfully converting both a 31 and a 49 yard field goal while also making a pair of extra points.

DaJuan Harris. Harris led Green Bay with 32 rushing yards on 7 carries this afternoon.

Scott Tolzein. Tolzein wasn't necessarily great during his few drives, but since he did complete 10/15 passes for 107 yards you could definitely appreciate his performance. 

Notes From Packers' 20-16 Loss to Titans

Some notes from the Packers' preseason-opening, 20-16 loss tonight to the Titans:

Scott Tolzein. In this evening's contest, surprisingly, Aaron Rodgers didn't play his normal one series, but that doesn't mean his position wasn't still fun to watch, with Scott Tolzein completing 8 of his 12 passes for 124 yards.

James Starks. Despite getting just 6 carries, Green Bay's backup for at least the next two years put up some pretty good numbers during this defeat, with his yard total reaching an impressive 49.

Dajuan Harris. Playing in his first game since 2012, Harris was also solid when it came to rushing the ball in this one, racking up 18 yards on 7 carries.

Mason Crosby. Crosby didn't do much tonight, but since he did make a go-ahead 32 yard field goal in the fourth quarter he did technically contribute.

Richard Rodgers and Ha Ha Clinton-Dix: Caught one pass for 10 yards and collected three tackles, respectively. 

Does Crosby want the Packers to make him earn his job again?

In an article recently published by ESPN Milwaukee, Packers Kicker Mason Crosby, who made a career best 89.2% of his field goal attempts this season, appeared to praise General Manager Ted Thompson's decision to sign another kicker during 2013 training camp, calling it motivation. 

“You know, it was definitely a positive. There was nothing negative about it,” Crosby said. “I think it drove me to compete with myself even more, compete with what I felt like I needed to do and just go out and really battle every day."

So yea, you hear him Thompson. Go get another kicker. 

Who Has Taken Over Mason Crosby's Body?

One of the surprises this season for the Green Bay Packers is that whoever is occupying the body of K Mason Crosby is doing a much better job than Mason Crosby version 2012.

I was pretty vocal late last year that they had to make a change from Crosby because it looked like his confidence was shot. However, I was a bit cautious about releasing him for the sake of releasing him this offseason, unless they happened to sign a kicker who was obviously better (they didn't). You never know when a kicker is going to bounce back.

Right now, Crosby is one of eight kickers who are perfect on field goal attempts. While the perfection is appreciated, it's more surprising how accurate his kicks have been. Usually he's been hitting them right down the middle, which is a major change from some of his 2012 shanks that weren't within 10 yards of the uprights.

Maybe his confidence never left him, which is why the Packers were so patient with him. Or maybe they knew that kickers are unpredictable and if they gave him some time, he'd work out of the problem with his technique.

They had some reason to believe that 2012 was a fluke and Crosby could easily bounce back in 2013. Aaron Schatz wrote a great article a few years ago about just how inconsistent kickers are at making field goals. So what's happened to Crosby isn't unusual.

At some point this season, he'll finally miss his first field goal of the season, and it will be briefly mentioned on TV that he was awful last season. I'm not sure how accurate he will be this season, he's proven to be an unpredictable kicker, but right now he looks great and I hope he maintains his confidence and technique for as long as he can.

The Kicking Competition Isn't Over For Mason Crosby

UPDATE: And then with one bad day of practice, Ramirez was gone. His was one of the quicker signings/releases I've ever seen. I thought they'd give him at least a week.

If the Green Bay Packers were serious about giving K Mason Crosby some competition this year, wouldn't they have signed/drafted someone who really could unseat him?

#Packers release kicker Giorgio Tavecchio, who was brought in to provide competition for veteran Mason Crosby. http://t.co/AHTJayhUZm
— NewsHub (@NewsHub) August 26, 2013

It never seemed like Tavecchio was intended to be the answer. Maybe Tavecchio was just the starting point and Crosby has been the better kicker over the last couple weeks. Even if Zach Ramirez is outstanding in his first week with the team, it's only one week. Is he really a better kicker or did he just have the better week?

This feels like a drama that's going to stretch on all season. The Packers can easily tryout kickers during the season, if Crosby starts missing regular season field goals. Sometimes those moves work out great, for example, the Redskins signed rookie Kai Forbath last October and he was automatic for them. However, the last time the Packers were in this situation, they released P Jon Ryan at the start of the 2008 season and suffered through a partial season from Derrick Frost.

Crosby had a disastrous 2012 season and I'd be glad to see a kicker who's better than him, but my concern is that they actually find a kicker who is better before they make the move.

Will Mason Crosby Be Released Soon?

I'm not exactly sure where he ranked in NFL history but K Mason Crosby was terrible last season. His percentage was bad (21 made in 33 attempts, 63.6%) and only one other kicker was below 70% while twenty-six others were above 80%. To make matters worse, some of his missed attempts were amazingly off-target. He really had to show something this preseason.

While he did make three field goals against the Rams, he's otherwise been awful this month. John Clayton's NFL contacts are among the best, so when he suggests something, it's probably going to happen:

Dan Carpenter and Rian Lindell are the top kickers on the market after being released. Mason Crosby could be the next veteran cut.
— John Clayton (@ClaytonESPN) August 19, 2013

For the first time since his rookie season, Crosby has someone to compete against, and K Giorgio "Sergio" Tavecchio has out-kicked Crosby this month. Unfortunately, Tavecchio missed one of this two field goal attempts against the Rams, and I don't have the greatest confidence in him either.

Clayton mentioned Carpenter and Lindell, maybe they could be options, but those two guys have their own problems otherwise they wouldn't have been released. The Packers would be taking a leap of faith that either one of them could do better than Crosby or Tavecchio.

The Packers don't really have a good option here. They can bring in kickers for tryouts. They can watch Crosby and Tavecchio in practice. But that doesn't mean the kicker they watched in tryouts and practice will deliver come game time. Crosby was so bad last season, and struggled so much this month, that change seems inevitable. The real concern is that the solution will bring new problems.

Family Night Scrimmage: Eddie Lacy Shines

It seems like every other year these Family Night events are cancelled due to thunderstorms, but the Green Bay Packers were able to scrimmage Saturday night in front of just over 63,000 fans. There were a couple of interesting takeaways:

At running back, James Starks started, Eddie Lacy replaced him on the first drive, Johnathan Franklin went third, and Alex Green was fourth. The only back who's really suffered this week is DuJuan Harris, who's been held out after having a cyst removed back in June. The snap count between the top four backs was almost identical, however Lacy stood out with 65 yards on eight carries behind the first team offensive line. Technically, Green came into camp at the top of the depth chart, but (surprisingly) Starks is healthy, he certainly knows the offense, and that might have given him the early advantage, though Green ran the ball well during scrimmage too. The position looks like a toss up.

At quarterback, Graham Harrell easily outplayed B.J. Coleman. For whatever progress Coleman has made in his second NFL season, he keeps turning the ball over in camp, though he didn't get much help from Jeremy Ross who dropped one pass before he slipped on another route which led to a pick-six INT. The talk earlier this week that Coleman might move ahead of Harrell seems well premature.

At right tackle, Marshall Newhouse is the starter but he was quickly replaced by rookie David Bakhtiari, so it looks like they are closely competing for the job. I really like Bakhtiari's potential, so I don't see this as a bad thing. Don Barclay started at right tackle at the end of last season, but he was awful in pass protection and is being moved all over this line so far in camp, apparently to see where he might fit. Former first round pick Derek Sherrod hasn't practiced at all, as far as I've read. The competition might already be down to Newhouse and Bakhtiari, though the winner shouldn't be obvious until the second or third preseason game.

I wrote about Tyrone Walker last week, he's still a long-shot, but he stood out during the scrimmage with a couple nice receptions.

Also, Mason Crosby's kicking woes continued and the boo-birds let him have it. I'm not sure how much more time the team will be willing to give him; they've already given him more than many franchises would have.

Will Mason Crosby Remain With The Packers in 2013?

K Mason Crosby had an epic meltdown last season and only a late-season surge back to barely competent kept him from being a major lighting rod this offseason. Mike McCarthy was asked about him on Wednesday and admitted that "competition's good." The following tweet pretty much sums up my response:

So suddenly Mike McCarthy thinks it's a good idea to bring competition in for Mason Crosby. Only took 5 years to figure that out? #Packers
— Jersey Al - ALLGBP (@JerseyAlGBP) March 21, 2013

2012 was an absolute disaster for Crosby. I've been writing every spring about how the Packers need to sign someone to compete against him. They don't need to use a draft pick, nearly every kicker in the NFL was either undrafted or released by some other team, but spend a few thousand bucks on a signing bonus for a rookie to see if they can do better.

The coaches have had this love of Crosby that I can't explain. Since his rookie season, when he beat out Dave Rayner in training camp, I can't recall whether the Packers have ever had a player in camp to challenge Crosby. When he was a free agent before the 2011 season, there was no doubt the Packers would re-sign him. McCarthy's comment above was the first negative comment I can recall seeing, and it took an epic collapse (among other bad games) to bring it about.

And this isn't about piling on Crosby for one bad season. Kickers are inconsistent, and bad stretches happen even to great kickers, but Crosby's been mediocre for a while. Part of his struggles result from kicking in bad, outdoor weather, and McCarthy's willingness to give him some long-range attempts that other coaches would avoid. But the past few seasons haven't been an impressive run.

2011 was his high water mark with an 86% success rate (10th best). Going back further, he was 78% in 2010 (22nd best), 75% in 2009 (25th best), 79% in 2008 (26th best), and 79% in 2007 as a rookie (24th best). Being accurate isn't everything for a kicker. Sebastian Janikowski frequently has one of the worst success rates and remains the highest paid kicker in the NFL. However, Crosby's bad 2012 season put a lot of strain on the team and his missed field goals have lost them some games in the past.

Crosby might still win the starting job next season, but here's to bringing in some competition for him this summer.

Mason Crosby Has To Be Replaced

I have a lot of patience with coaching and front office decisions because there is usually more than one point of view. Sometimes patience is rewarded, but an NFL career is such a short time period that maybe a quick hook is the way to go. The Green Bay Packers have usually been aggressive about making personnel changes, replacing aging, underperforming veterans with younger players, but the decision to stand by K Mason Crosby has become a glowing exception.

New Insiders blog:Morning roundup: Is it time to kick Crosby? dlvr.it/2g3hRF #Packers
— Rob Demovsky (@RobDemovsky) December 19, 2012

Maybe this is a rhetorical question. There's no excuse now for avoiding a change. Even earlier in the season, when Crosby's kicking percentage was higher than his unbelievably awful 58.6% (17 of 29), he was missing badly at times. This isn't a recent problem; he's been struggling all season.

Maybe the memories of releasing P Jon Ryan factor into this decision and they felt like they gave up too soon on him, which happens to be the truth. Ryan wasn't great with the Packers, but he turned it up as soon as he arrived in Seattle, and he's gone onto have a solid career. The Packers, on the other hand, struggled for two seasons with a couple replacement punters before finding P Tim Masthay, who was awful in his first half-season before becoming a solid player.

They're right on some level: Crosby is going to figure it out at some point. But right now, they should have no faith that he'll figure it out this season. Kickers are often inconsistent, but it's unknown when they'll come out of a slump. Betting on Crosby to find his groove again as the playoffs start is a huge leap of faith.

In general, under 85% is poor for a kicker. Currently there are 16 kickers who have 15 or more attempts this season and are over the 85% mark. This isn't an unrealistic goal and Crosby is nowhere near hitting it. The cap savings and money paid to him don't even matter at this point; he's unacceptable at any price.

Recap: Packers Win In Detroit, 24-20

With the absence of LB Clay Matthews (and the ongoing absence of CB Charles Woodson) I was pessimistic about the Green Bay Packers' chances of defeating the Lions. Sure, the Lions have a lot of injury problems of their own, but the Packers usually lose games when Matthews is hurt. I expected an offensive shootout, but instead the defense led the way for both teams. It might have been an ugly win, but I'll take a win on the road any week, anyway they can get it.

So the answer to the question of where the Packers would find a pass rush without Matthews: they'd find it everywhere. A lot more blitzing by defensive backs (CB Davon House and S Morgan Burnett each recorded a sack) but also pursuit from LB Erik Walden and LB Dezman Moses. While they recorded the sacks (and Moses forced a fumble), it was the interior push by the tackles that usually forced the action. Rookie DT Mike Daniels was a factor, but all the big guys deserve credit: QB Matthew Stafford rarely had a pocket to step up into. And when they did get a pass off, the young defensive backs made plays, led by a huge game from CB Casey Hayward (5 pass defenses, 1 INT) and the INT returned for a touchdown by S M.D. Jennings. RB Mikel Leshoure had some success on the ground, but the Packers were letting the chance by rarely playing with more than two defensive linemen. Even with some running room available, the Lions preferred to throw the ball, calling 46 pass plays to only 22 carries.

My biggest complaint with the offense was the featured role for RB James Starks. With a make-shift offensive line, I'm sure Mike McCarthy wanted to keep the pressure down on QB Aaron Rodgers with a conservative game plan, but the result was a stalled offense. Starks had 26 touches while WR Jordy Nelson, WR James Jones, and WR Randall Cobb combined for only 23 carries and targets. While the Lions defense didn't have a huge statistical day, DT Nick Fairley was huge with 2 sacks and 2 tackles for a loss, and he probably disrupted at least a couple other plays. The overall conservative strategy was sound and they might not have had anymore success with a pass heavy attack, but a few more pass plays might have gotten the offense going, and Nelson, Jones and Cobb should combine for more plays than Starks.

Poor K Mason Crosby. I've been on his case all season, and he came close to hitting bottom in this game with two recorded misses (plus the other one he missed while he was being iced by the Lions). The coaches probably have more confidence in Crosby than any street free agent they could bring in at this point, so releasing him seems like an extreme reaction. His job security might be better addressed in the offseason. Instead, they should focus on restoring his confidence in the interim. Kicking is a pretty inconsistent business, and Crosby's gone through more good streaks than bad. The odds are more likely that he'll kick himself out of his slump instead of falling down further.

Preview: Packers at Lions

The Green Bay Packers have only played one divisional game, a win over the Bears, and the Lions have played three and lost three in the NFC North. For the Lions, the final score looked close in each of those three losses, but it really wasn't, as they scored a late touchdown in each one to make it appear close.

The biggest story in this game might be injuries. The Lions have problems on offense with WR Calvin Johnson still unable to practice (everyone seems to expect he'll play on Sunday) and WR Nate Burleson lost for the season, but without LB Clay Matthews and CB Charles Woodson, the Packers defense is looking rather toothless. The question is whether the Packers will find a pass rush without Matthews and I'm not overly optimistic that they will. At least the return of CB Tramon Williams to health in 2012 gives the Packers a legitimate top corner to harass Johnson. QB Matthew Stafford may not match 5000 yards or 41 touchdowns again this season, but the NFL's No. 1 pass offense (ranked No. 4 overall by Football Outsiders) should had success against a wounded Packer defense. I would be surprised if the Packers can hold them under 28 points.

However, the injury situation might be even worse for the Lions defense. It's been a rough season for the Lions' defense from the start and their 2011 sack leader DE Cliff Avril has already missed practice time this week, along with nearly every member of the Lions' secondary. They've been forced to claim former Packer CB Pat Lee off waivers after he was abruptly released by the Raiders (never a good sign). Still, he might be one of their top two cornerbacks at the moment.

While Rodgers hasn't been a force over the past two weeks (218 yards against the Cardinals, 186 yards against the Jaguars) the absence of WR Jordy Nelson has seemed to have been the problem. With his expected return from a hamstring injury, the offense, which has vanished over the past two games during the third quarter, should get a much needed boost from the return of their top wide receiver.

The only concern might be the switch of T.J. Lang to right tackle, to replace injured RT Bryan Bulaga. Lions' DE Kyle Vanden Bosch still remains effective with 5 sacks and 10 QB hits so far this season. This will be a match-up to watch.

Another area that could help the Packers is special teams, where the Packers rank No. 12 overall by Football Outsiders (held down only by K Mason Crosby's poor season) while the Lions rank near the bottom at No. 29. The Lions could end up with more total yards of offense, but if they keep losing the field position battle, it might not be enough to win the game.

This match-up, between two high powered offenses and two injured defenses, looks like it will be a shoot out. Maybe something like Packers 31, Lions 28.

He's A Great Kicker When He's Not Missing Field Goals

I hadn't been thinking much about K Mason Crosby this season, except that some other teams are getting better results from rookie kickers (Vikings K Blair Walsh and Ravens K Justin Tucker) for a fraction of the price. Maybe the $1.6 million they're paying him in 2012 could be better spent elsewhere. So I was surprised to see this article:

New Insiders blog:Other than long field goals, Crosby having good season dlvr.it/2Mg8jS #Packers
— Rob Demovsky (@RobDemovsky) October 23, 2012

Not really. Football Outsiders gives the Packers a negative ranking on field goals and extra points in 2012, which isn't good under any circumstances. I'm not expecting a high success rate on field goal attempts of longer than 50 yards, but his long misses against the Colts from 51 yards, and his 58 yard miss against the Rams, weren't even in the same zip code. Those two misses were arguably the worst attempts of his NFL career.

I don't want to see the Packers find a new kicker mid-season because the replacement isn't likely to be a good player and Crosby's not that bad, but that doesn't mean I'm making a strong defense for him either.