Final FG attempt fails to cooperate for Packers kicker Mason Crosby

GREEN BAY - There have been windier days inside Lambeau Field, but few times has the wind left kicker Mason Crosby so flummoxed.

After making five consecutive field goals in the Green Bay Packers’ 29-29 tie against the Minnesota Vikings, Crosby lined up for a potential game-winning, 52-yard attempt with three seconds left in regulation. It went through the uprights, but Vikings coach Mike Zimmer called timeout before the snap, erasing the victory.

Crosby said he wasn’t fazed by Zimmer’s attempt to ice him, but it worked anyway. Because the Packers kicker used the same line he’d followed all day, compensating for a left-to-right crosswind.

This time, his kick stayed left outside the upright.

“Everything seemed fine,” Crosby said. “Protection was great all day. So obviously had a great day up until that point. So disappointing not to come through there for the team.

“I just kind of held it outside the left there, and on that end it seemed like the ball — all my other kicks moved to the right.”

Crosby pointed to Vikings kicker Daniel Carlson, who missed each of his three attempts wide right toward the north end zone. Carlson’s final attempt came as the clock expired in overtime, cementing the 29-29 tie.

Sunday was tough for both kickers, primarily because of the deceptive wind.

“Obviously, went from being my best regular-season game to just kind of a little bummed about that kick,” Crosby said. “We’ve gotta knock that through to help this team win. We all lay it on the line, and unfortunately had a great game leading up to that. Just wasn’t able to execute that final one.”

Punt block perfection

Few things happen by accident in the NFL, and the opening score of Sunday’s game wasn’t any different.

With Minnesota lining up for its first punt of the game backed up at its own 15-yard line with 7 minutes, 33 seconds left in the first quarter, Packers special teams coordinator Ron Zook had his unit prepared to put its imprint on the game.

Punter Matt Wile was signed a week before the season opener, so the Vikings were still working through things schematically and Zook found a flaw that could be exploited.

“We schemed up some things we’d seen,” Packers wide receiver Geronimo Allison said. “We knew what to kind of attack.

“It worked out well. We did what we thought they’d do and it worked out.”

Allison shot off of Wile’s right side and used his 6-foot, 3-inch frame to block the kick. It floated into the air, and cornerback Josh Jackson was there to haul it in in the end zone.

“I looked up and I just seen the ball in the air,” Jackson said. “I just tried to get up and catch it.”

Quite literally, it was drawn up that way, Jackson chuckled.

“It was exactly what he planned to do,” he said. “It was executed well.”

Kramer honor ‘surreal’

When Pro Football Hall of Famer Jerry Kramer saw his name unveiled inside Lambeau Field, next to the names of other Packers enshrined in the prestigious hall, it was like getting blindsided while blocking the famous Packers sweep.

“It felt like a kick in the stomach,” Kramer said Sunday during the game against Minnesota. “It was a ‘oomph.’ It was a physical reaction and I wondered if I was going to faint or fall over or what I was going to do. It just lasted for an instant, but it was a noticeable shock.”

Kramer became the 25th member of the Green Bay organization to have his name displayed on the southwest façade inside the stadium.

Kramer, 82, also was presented with his Pro Football Hall of Fame Ring of Excellence during the halftime ceremony.

“It’s surreal, I think is the best way to describe it,” Kramer said. “Especially for a lineman. You know, lineman don’t do those kinds of things. Rarely do they do those kinds of things. It was a wonderful day.”

The right guard played all 11 of his NFL seasons with the Packers, including playing in five NFL title games.

The five-time All-Pro was a Pro Football Hall of Fame finalist 10 times before being inducted this year, joining 12 other Vince Lombardi-era Packers in the hall.

Kramer might be best known for his block allowing quarterback Bart Starr to score the game-winning touchdown in the 1967 Ice Bowl.