DETROIT -- Mason Crosby got so desperate that he even tried a change of footwear during his disastrous kicking day.
The Green Bay Packers' longtime kicker switched cleats after he missed his third field goal of the first half in Sunday's 31-23 loss to the Detroit Lions. He went on to miss two more kicks -- another field goal and an extra point -- before he finally booted one through: a 41-yarder with 2 seconds left in the game.
"Something had to go," Crosby said of the cleats. "I kind of made an adjustment and -- I have three or four pairs broken in every game so it's not unusual for me to do that. But I felt like I needed something to try to spur on the next one."
Still, he became the first NFL kicker to miss four field goals and an extra point in the same game since Rolf Benirschke of the Chargers in 1980, according to ESPN Stats & Information research.
"Well, obviously shocked; it's never happened to me," Crosby said. "That's never happened to me. It doesn't happen. So I'm going to evaluate it but I'm going to [chalk] it up to something that is an anomaly in life that I've never even been a part of. So I'm going to evaluate the details like I do every week and move on. Because that one for me is something that I've never been a part of and hope to never be part of again."
Crosby, the Packers' career scoring leader and a 12th-year veteran, made 10 of 11 field goals entering Sunday's game. The only miss was a 52-yarder that would have won the Week 2 game against the Vikings that ended in a tie.
The Packers stuck with him during a slump in 2012, when he made a league-low 63.6 percent of his field goals. In the five seasons that followed, he made 85 percent of his field goals.
"I think he's one of the greatest kickers of all time," Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers said. "I've always said he and Robbie Gould, what they do in the elements over the years is some of the finest kicking that I've seen in my time. Obviously he's disappointed. I don't think he expected this. We have a ton of faith in him. He's done it for a long time, made some big kicks for us over the years. They've got to clean the operation up: snap, hold and he's got to make them."
It was especially perplexing given that Crosby's worst day came at a indoor stadium.
Even the Lions were shocked.
"I never seen one like that before, not even in high school or in college," Lions cornerback Nevin Lawson said. "And that's surprising, too, because I still think he's a really good kicker so that was very surprising."
<article class="ad-300" style="box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; overflow: hidden; position: relative; z-index: 1000026; margin: 0px 0px 10px 10px; float: right; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">
</article>Packers coach Mike McCarthy said Crosby's final field goal was an attempt to win the game -- to set up an onside kick that followed -- and made no mention of doing it just to give Crosby a boost in confidence.
"To be honest with you that's a situation you'd like to have more [time]; you'd like to be north of 12 [seconds] there," McCarthy said. "Hey it's like anything, you get to that spot you want to make sure you give your team a chance to win. So making the field goal, desperation play on the onside kick, that was our last chance."
ESPN's Michael Rothstein contributed to this report.
The Green Bay Packers' longtime kicker switched cleats after he missed his third field goal of the first half in Sunday's 31-23 loss to the Detroit Lions. He went on to miss two more kicks -- another field goal and an extra point -- before he finally booted one through: a 41-yarder with 2 seconds left in the game.
"Something had to go," Crosby said of the cleats. "I kind of made an adjustment and -- I have three or four pairs broken in every game so it's not unusual for me to do that. But I felt like I needed something to try to spur on the next one."
Still, he became the first NFL kicker to miss four field goals and an extra point in the same game since Rolf Benirschke of the Chargers in 1980, according to ESPN Stats & Information research.
"Well, obviously shocked; it's never happened to me," Crosby said. "That's never happened to me. It doesn't happen. So I'm going to evaluate it but I'm going to [chalk] it up to something that is an anomaly in life that I've never even been a part of. So I'm going to evaluate the details like I do every week and move on. Because that one for me is something that I've never been a part of and hope to never be part of again."
Crosby, the Packers' career scoring leader and a 12th-year veteran, made 10 of 11 field goals entering Sunday's game. The only miss was a 52-yarder that would have won the Week 2 game against the Vikings that ended in a tie.
The Packers stuck with him during a slump in 2012, when he made a league-low 63.6 percent of his field goals. In the five seasons that followed, he made 85 percent of his field goals.
"I think he's one of the greatest kickers of all time," Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers said. "I've always said he and Robbie Gould, what they do in the elements over the years is some of the finest kicking that I've seen in my time. Obviously he's disappointed. I don't think he expected this. We have a ton of faith in him. He's done it for a long time, made some big kicks for us over the years. They've got to clean the operation up: snap, hold and he's got to make them."
It was especially perplexing given that Crosby's worst day came at a indoor stadium.
Even the Lions were shocked.
"I never seen one like that before, not even in high school or in college," Lions cornerback Nevin Lawson said. "And that's surprising, too, because I still think he's a really good kicker so that was very surprising."
<article class="ad-300" style="box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; overflow: hidden; position: relative; z-index: 1000026; margin: 0px 0px 10px 10px; float: right; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">
</article>Packers coach Mike McCarthy said Crosby's final field goal was an attempt to win the game -- to set up an onside kick that followed -- and made no mention of doing it just to give Crosby a boost in confidence.
"To be honest with you that's a situation you'd like to have more [time]; you'd like to be north of 12 [seconds] there," McCarthy said. "Hey it's like anything, you get to that spot you want to make sure you give your team a chance to win. So making the field goal, desperation play on the onside kick, that was our last chance."
ESPN's Michael Rothstein contributed to this report.
