A rookie place kicker, or even a second or third year man, would have been cut before the day was over. Don't let the door hit you on your way out. Yer outta here.
But Mason Crosby of the Green Bay Packers is in his 12th year. And he's been Mr. Reliable all along. An overall 80% success rate on field goal attempts -- and almost 98% on extra point attempts -- is a mighty impressive career record for any place kicker.
Until his proverbial wheels fell off against the Detroit Lions. His atrocious performance against the Motowners is truly difficult to comprehend.
Oh sure. The Lions and their ever-faithful lap dogs -- sometimes known as the local media -- will always put a positive spin on things, no matter how ridiculous it sounds. The Honolulu blue and silver kool-aid they serve up in Detroit by the box car load is not only powerful stuff, but very addictive as well. Once hooked on it, it's nigh impossible to kick the nasty habit.
[Full disclosure. Yours truly was one of the few fortunate ones that was once hooked on that kool-aid -- for decades -- but when Barry Sanders walked with several good years still in him, and likely gave up the all-time rushing record as well -- along with mucho millions of dollars -- I went cold turkey the same day and haven't looked back. No regrets.]
Reading a by-line on the Lions defeating the Packers made me laugh out loud.
The secondary's pretty good, it said. Quarterback Matthew Stafford went even further. He was quoted as saying the defense is outstanding. If you say so, Matt.
Even new head coach Matt Patricia chimed in. "The biggest thing has been the continuity", quoth Mattie P.
At least he got that right, sort of. The Lions have most definitely had continuity. You can't go over fifty -- count-em -- FIFTY years -- without ever making it to a Super Bowl, let alone winning it, and not call it continuity.
For that matter, they've won a grand total of one playoff game since Super Bowls started back around the time Richard Nixon was becoming President. ONE!!
But let's cut through the crap. The sole reason the Lions improbably won the game over the Packers is the above-mentioned Mason Crosby. He knows it. His teammates and coaches know it. Everybody in Green Bay knows it.
Only in Detroit do they choose to ignore the obvious, while giving themselves yet another pat on the back for a job well done.
It was no such thing. The Lions didn't do anything to win that game. They should have lost.
But Crosby missed 4 four field goal attempts, three of them quite makeable that he normally nails, along with an extra point attempt, which is typically almost automatic. A missed fourth field goal attempt was from 56 yards. That's within Crosby's range, to be sure, but he's about 50-50 from there.
Even discounting the long one, that's ten points the Packers should have had, but didn't get due to Crosby's freakish wildness.
They would lose the game by only eight points -- 31-23.
Whether or not Mason Crosby some day winds up in the Hall of Fame -- it's rare for place kickers -- remains to be seen.
There's no doubt he's had a long and terrific career in the NFL over the years. He might even have a few years left in him.
But even given that, if he has another game like the debacle he had against the Lions, don't think for a minute he's immune to the bum's rush out of town as well. It can and might well happen.
So for now, let the Lions and their faithful bask in a win. And hey, Ws and Ls are the only thing that counts in the NFL.
But this one was a gift from Crosby.
And no amount of kool-aid can change it.
Period.
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