Packers Notebook (Week 4)

Clutch Crosby

A 51-yard field goal to win the game?

With red-hot Mason Crosby, no doubt about it.

“Just said a quick prayer but, in my mind, the game was over,” receiver Davante Adams said.

Crosby was one of the heroes of the Green Bay Packers’ 30-28 victory over the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday night. With three more field goals, Crosby extended his streak to 22 consecutive successful field goals — the second-longest in franchise history behind his 23-kick run a decade ago.

The game-winner, set up by completions of 25 and 17 yards from Aaron Rodgers to Adams in the final seconds, was the biggest of the bunch.

“As soon as I hit it, I was kind of leaning and then, as I was trying to get a visual on it to make sure it had the distance, nothing crazy happened and then I just kind of went blank,” Crosby said. “Took off running. Everybody else was watching. I was already going.”

Since the start of the 2016 season, Crosby is 7-of-8 on game-winning opportunities. That includes his go-ahead and winning kicks in the final two minutes against Dallas in the 2016 playoffs.

“Obviously, just knowing what those moments feel like, what kind of the end result and the celebration, you just kind of have that experience from past moments, so that was a big one,” he said. “It was a 51-yarder, so you’ve got to hit it true and hit it solid. Celebrating with the guys in the end zone, seeing that energy and feeling that juice is what it’s all about. And then carrying on into the locker room and guys pouring water all over my head and on everybody, that’s what this game is all about. It was really special.”

The kick was perfect. The protection was not. San Francisco defensive back Dontae Johnson almost blocked it; photos show the ball just missing his outstretched fingers.

“It was pretty close,” coach Matt LaFleur said on Monday. “I thought Bobby (Tonyan) did as well as he could have done on the edge, as well. (Johnson) just got a really good jump on the snap and he made it close. We talk all the time about protecting from inside out. I think over the course of last season, I want to say there was something like only four kicks blocked from the perimeter. Most of it comes from internal pressure. So, our guys were stout inside and the guy got a really good jump on it and, thankfully, he missed it.”

During the game, Crosby passed Hall of Famer Jan Stenerud on the career scoring list and became the 18th player in NFL history with 1,700 career points. His field-goal streak is impressive but he’s barely halfway to the NFL-record streak of 44 consecutive field goals, set by Adam Vinatieri of the Indianapolis Colts from 2015 through 2016. New England’s Nick Folk has the longest active streak at 35.

“Mason just continuing from what he did last year,” Adams said. “He kicked the leather off the ball. It makes it much more comforting knowing that we don’t have to go down there and score (a touchdown) because we have such a reliable kicker. In my mind, once we completed that second one and spiked it, we had that one pretty much knotted up.”

King for a day

Sunday’s game against the Pittsburgh Steelers could bring a painful reminder of what could have been for the Packers.

Entering the 2017 draft, the Packers had a big need at cornerback, with Damarious Randall and Quinten Rollins underachieving and Micah Hyde having left in free agency. They also had a big need at outside linebacker, with Julius Peppers departing in free agency and Clay Matthews on the decline.

Armed with the 29th selection, the board fell then-general manager Ted Thompson’s way. Edge rusher T.J. Watt, who grew up in Pewaukee and starred at Wisconsin, surprisingly was still available. So was cornerback Kevin King. Thompson traded out of the first round in a deal with Cleveland, acquiring a fourth-round pick to move back to No. 33.

The Steelers selected Watt at No. 30. Thompson pounced on King a few picks later.

Watt has become one of the NFL’s truly elite defenders. In his first four NFL seasons, he recorded 49 sacks and 17 forced fumbles. He led the league in sacks in 2020 and forced fumbles in 2019. He is a three-time Pro Bowler and two-time All-Pro. On the eve of the start of the 2021 season, he signed a four-year, $112 million contract extension.

“This is a dream to play for an organization like this,” Watt said after signing. “It’s everything from on the field to off the field. On the field, it’s a 3-4 defense. I’m an outside linebacker. That is a player’s dream. To play for Blitzburgh, to play for this city, to play for the fans is also a dream. To play for the Rooney family is also a dream. It’s incredible and I get chills talking about it, being a part of an organization that has such rich tradition and it’s not some rich billionaire came in and bought a team and started it because he had all this money.”

Almost all of those words could have been said about Green Bay. Instead, the Packers wound up with King, who has been injury-prone and inconsistent. With only two more career interceptions than Watt, he re-signed this offseason on a meager one-year deal worth $5 million. Making matters worse, general manager Brian Gutekunst had to use his first-round pick this year on a cornerback, Eric Stokes.

If that’s not bad enough, Gutekunst had to open the vault to sign Za’Darius Smith and Preston Smith and burn a first-round pick on Rashan Gary in 2019 to provide the pass rush that Watt has provided for the Steelers.

Watt missed last week’s game against Cincinnati with a groin injury. In two games, he’s got three sacks and two forced fumbles. With Za’Darius Smith on injured reserve with a back injury, all of Green Bay’s outside linebackers combined have contributed two sacks and zero forced fumbles in three games.

In Yosh they trust

San Francisco defensive end Nick Bosa vs. Green Bay left tackle Yosh Nijman looked like a colossal mismatch last week.

Bosa, the No. 2 pick of the 2019 draft and the son of a former first-round pick, won Rookie of the Year honors with nine sacks. Nijman, an undrafted free agent in 2019 and the son of parents born in Suriname, had played zero meaningful offensive snaps in his first two-plus seasons.

Getting the start for injured Elgton Jenkins (ankle), Nijman survived a rocky start and played a key role in Green Bay’s offensive success.

“I think I was a little bit crazy; my footwork and everything,” Nijman said afterward. “I think I just needed the first drive to get the jitterbugs out. I think later on in the game, I kind of settled down a little bit, got in the flow of it and everything. With that mindset, I was trying to stay cool, calm and collected.”

Green Bay’s line was incredibly young. Four of the five starters had made five career starts: zero for Nijman, one for left guard Jon Runyan, two for rookie center Josh Myers and two for rookie right guard Royce Newman.

“Really, really proud of the boys,” Adams said. “Yosh hasn’t had a whole lot of opportunities, especially against teams like that. For him to be thrust into that position, really proud of him. I love that dude. When we switched sides of the field for the fourth quarter, he’s waking by me and I’m turning everybody up, I’m going crazy. He looks me and he goes, ‘It’s just a blessing to play with you guys. I really enjoy this.’ It kind of slowed me down for a second and I got real appreciative for having a teammate like that.”

Back to work

Whether it’s the thrill of victory (like beating San Francisco) or the agony of defeat (like getting crushed by New Orleans in the opener), LaFleur’s message is always the same.

Hit the reset button and move onto the next game. So, while this was a huge victory, it’s time to turn the page to Sunday’s game against the Steelers. Pittsburgh is 1-2 and coming off back-to-back home losses.

“It’s a confidence booster,” LaFleur said of beating the 49ers. “Anytime you go into a team that is one of the premier teams in this league, into a hostile environment, that had a playoff-type atmosphere, that was 2-0, in their home opener, I think that definitely gives you confidence. But, ultimately, you’ve got to go back to work.

“We know we have a great team coming in here, a team that’s going to be really hungry. I know they haven’t started necessarily the way they’ve wanted to, but I’ve got so much respect for Mike Tomlin and just what he’s been able to accomplish through the course of his career. We’ll have our work cut out for us, and we’re going to have to have a great week of preparation in order to defeat the Steelers.”