Crosby’s 57-yard field goal helps clinch victory
Over on the Ford Field sideline, Matt Lafleur fumed. Less than four minutes left in Sunday's fourth quarter, the Green Bay Packers nursing a touchdown lead, he called a pass play Aaron Rodgers had to throw out of bounds.
He should have called a run. Never mind if it was third-and-9. LaFleur's headset game has been pedal to the floor all season. This moment, he knew, required a more cautious approach.
LaFleur sent his field-goal unit onto the field and continued to stew. He was midway through his mulling when the whistle blew. Elgton Jenkins, false start, 5-yard penalty. The Packers had been sitting on the Detroit Lions' 37-yard line. Their line to kick a field goal was the 40.
Special-teams coordinator Shawn Mennenga knew what that should've meant.
“Shawn was ready to throw the punt team out there,” LaFleur said.
Before he could, the head coach turned to his kicker. On the sideline, LaFleur asked the veteran Mason Crosby how he felt. The longest field goal Crosby has made in 14 seasons is 58 yards. This would be from 57. Indoors, yes, but still stretching the outer limits of what was possible.
“I looked at Mason,” LaFleur said, “and said, ‘Can you hit this?' And he said, ‘Yes.' And I just, I figured we could fudge that line a little bit.”
Crosby has authored so many signature moments in his decade and a half with the Packers. Another came Sunday, the 36-year-old kicker booming that 57yard field goal over the crossbar. The kick sealed a 31-24 win at the Lions. It clinched a second straight NFC North championship under LaFleur, who is now 23-6 in the regular season as the Packers head coach.
It gave the Packers possession of the NFC's top seed, putting them in the driver's seat for not only home-field advantage in the playoffs, but the conference's first-round bye. The Packers, at 10-3, have an identical record to the New Orleans Saints, who lost Sunday at the Philadelphia Eagles. They also own the head-to-head tiebreaker, by virtue their Week 3 win in New Orleans.
That Crosby's kick came inside Ford Field was lost on nobody. Two years ago, Crosby had perhaps the worst moment of his career at the Lions. He missed four field goals and an extra point, becoming the first NFL kicker to miss five kicks in a game in more than 20 years.
Those misses took 13 points off the board. The Packers lost by 8.
Crosby has already exacted his revenge on the Lions. He booted not one, but two game-winning field goals with no time on the clock last season, the second clinching a playoff bye in the 2019 finale. He might just keep the Lions on his permanent payback list.
“For him,” receiver Davante Adams said, “I'm sure that probably jumped to the forefront of his mind running out there, especially with the penalty, getting it pushed back another 5 yards. It just says a lot about him as well, just the mindset to say, ‘Let's move past whatever happened before, focus on this and get it done because my team needs me.'
“I mean, we love Mason to death just for the way he's been doing it for such a long time now, such a high level. I feel like this is kind of second nature for him.”