Crosby After Winner: ‘Those Moments Are Awesome’
GREEN BAY, Wis. – Green Bay Packers kicker Mason Crosby struck the ball with his right foot, like he has thousands of times before. He didn’t wait for the football to split the uprights. He kicked the ball, took a quick glimpse, then thrust his arms into the air.
With his 31-yard field as time expired, the Packers edged the New England Patriots 27-24 in overtime on Sunday at Lambeau Field.
“They never do [get old],” Crosby said. “Just celebrating with the team … gosh, what a game! We get the ball there at the 10-yard line in the second possession of overtime, and it’s amazing to have no doubt that we’re going to have an opp(ortunity) to try to win it. Snap, hold, protection, everything was great all day. So, yeah, it’s nice to be able to finish that thing off.”
In Year 16 on the job, Crosby has delivered a bunch of clutch kicks during his career. This was his fourth overtime game-winner. He made a 20-yarder to beat the Vikings in 2013, a 27-yarder to beat the Bengals in 2017 and a 49-yarder to beat the Bengals last year (after missing from 40).
According to Stathead, Crosby is 4-of-5 in overtime and 11-of-19 on field goals in the last 2 minutes of regulation when trailing by three points (or less) or tied.
“It’s always fun,” Crosby said. “We had a few of these a couple years ago against Detroit [at the end of regulation]. It’s like we’re losing those games till the last second in both of those. So, those moments are awesome. This game was a grind. It was just one of those where it’s like not everything is going exactly how we want, but we’re finding ways to make plays there late. And to be able to finish it off that way is just really special.”
With the veteran duo of Crosby doing the kicking and Pat O’Donnell doing the holding, two-thirds of the Packers’ kicking operation is proven and strong. The wild card is the snapper, undrafted rookie Jack Coco. In Coco’s first real primetime moment, he delivered a strike to O’Donnell to set the wheels in motion.
“Jack’s been doing a great job,” Crosby said. “He’s really even-keeled, has really kind of come into it, just kind of accepted his role as a rookie and like what he’s doing and just putting his head down and going to work. We knew we didn’t have to say anything. We just told him to take a deep breath and go.”
It was the 374th successful field goal of Crosby’s career, sending him past Hall of Famer Jan Stenerud and into 16th place on the NFL’s all-time list.
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