Mason Crosby had 12 game-winning field goals with Green Bay Packers. Here's how we rank them.
It appears Mason Crosby's lengthy tenure with the Green Bay Packers, dating to 2007, has reached its conclusion. Through the years, he authored 12 game-winning kicks, either in the final seconds of regulation or overtime.
Here's how they rank:
12. Finishing the season on a high note (Dec. 29, 2019 vs. Lions)
Final score: Green Bay 23, Detroit 20
Mason Crosby: 33-yarder as time expires
In the season finale on a Sunday afternoon in Detroit, Crosby barely tucked a 33-yarder inside the left upright to seal a 13-3 season for the Packers. It hadn't been a particularly strong day for Green Bay against a team that entered 3-11-1, but the Packers scored 13 points in the fourth quarter, starting with Crosby's 40-yarder and also including a 28-yard touchdown pass to Allen Lazard. The winning drive included a 31-yard catch and run by Aaron Jones.
11. New England chowder (Oct. 2, 2022 vs. Patriots)
Final score: Green Bay 27, New England 24
The kick: 31-yarder as time expires in overtime
Green Bay punted on its first drive of overtime, but New England did likewise, handing the ball back to the Packers with 6 minutes, 47 seconds to go. From there, the Packers went to work, with AJ Dillon, Randall Cobb, Romeo Doubs and Aaron Jones all getting touches. Green Bay got to the 14-yard line when it decided to drain the rest of the clock and set up Crosby for the winner.
10. Beat the heat (Sept. 24, 2017 vs. Bengals)
Final score: Green Bay 27, Cincinnati 24
The kick: 27-yarder with 6:26 left in overtime
The Packers forced overtime when Aaron Rodgers found Jordy Nelson on a touchdown pass with 17 seconds left at Lambeau Field on a sweltering September day, with Crosby's extra point sealing the extra session. After the Packers forced a three-and-out to start overtime, Rodgers hit Geronimo Allison for a 72-yard completion on third-and-10, setting up Crosby with a gimme game-winner.
9. If only the Packers had won the rematch, too (Dec. 4, 2011 vs. Giants)
Final score: Green Bay 38, New York Giants 35
The kick: 30-yarder as time expires
In a wild back-and-forth at MetLife Stadium during the 15-1 season, Crosby's lone field goal of the game won it less than a minute after the Giants had pulled even at 35-35 on a Hakeem Nicks touchdown. Rodgers opened the drive from the Packers 20-yard line with 58 seconds on the clock and immediately hit Jermichael Finley for 24 yards and Nelson for 27 to set the table, plus a Greg Jennings 18-yard connection that brought the ball to the Giants' 12-yard line with 3 seconds left.
The Giants would get the last laugh, shocking Green Bay in the playoffs at Lambeau Field that season.
8. A (color) rush on Monday Night (Oct. 14, 2019 vs. Lions)
Final score: Green Bay 23, Detroit 22
The kick: 23-yarder as time expires
It was a do-or die situation on Monday Night Football, but a pretty short make awaited Crosby after the Packers got to within the Lions' 5-yard line. The Packers, wearing their all-white color-rush jerseys, took the ball with 6:46 to go and churned down the clock, getting steady pickups from Aaron Jones, Jamaal Williams and Rodgers himself both on the ground and through the air to Lazard and Jimmy Graham. Crosby performed a Lambeau Leap into the crowd after the win.
7. Try and try again (Oct. 10, 2021 vs. Bengals)
Final score: Green Bay 25, Cincinnati 22
The kick: 49-yarder with 1:55 left in overtime
It's possibly one of weirdest games of Crosby's tenure, even though he made four field goals in the game (including the game-winner). Bengals kicker Evan McPherson missed a 57-yarder with 26 seconds left that could have broken a 22-22 tie in regulation, and though the Packers got Crosby into range for a game winner, he missed a 51-yarder at the buzzer.
Then, Crosby missed again in overtime from 40 yards away, giving Cincinnati a chance to win … but McPherson missed again from 49 yards. Given one more try, Crosby and the Packers prevailed. The rookie McPherson would miss only two more field goals the rest of the season (39 attempts), including makes on all 14 of his postseason attempts (with two in the Super Bowl).
6. One for Coach Mac (Nov. 13, 2022 vs. Cowboys)
Final score: Green Bay 31, Dallas 28
The kick: 28-yarder with 3:11 left in overtime
Facing former Packers coach Mike McCarthy for the first time since he became head coach in Dallas, the Packers staged an upset at Lambeau Field, rallying back from a 28-14 deficit in the fourth quarter on two Christian Watson touchdowns (giving the rookie three for the day).
Neither team threatened in the final stages of regulation, and Dallas got to Green Bay's 35-yard line in overtime before a failed conversion on fourth-and-3. Rodgers found Lazard over the middle for a 36-yard pickup that allowed the Packers a game-winning attempt; the Packers were 4-6, but their playoff hopes were alive.
5. A San Francisco treat (Sept. 26, 2021 vs. 49ers)
Final score: Green Bay 30, San Francisco 28
The kick: 51-yarder as time expires
Rodgers delivered a remarkable final drive in an MVP season after the 49ers took a 28-27 lead with 37 seconds to play. Without the benefit of a timeout, Rodgers found Davante Adams for 25 yards and then another 17 yards, setting up a long Crosby attempt with 2 seconds left during Sunday Night Football at San Francisco. Crosby didn't give much room to spare, but the ball made it over the crossbar for the winner.
4. The bounceback (Oct. 15, 2018 vs. 49ers)
Final score: Green Bay 33, San Francisco 30
The kick: 27-yarder as time expires
The visibility was certainly high on Monday Night Football at Lambeau Field, but it also came one week after a disastrous showing in Detroit, where Crosby missed four field goals and an extra point in a 31-23 loss.
The Packers staged a thrilling comeback that included a Rodgers touchdown to Adams with 2 minutes to play to tie the game, followed by Kevin King's interception after San Francisco had gotten across midfield. Green Bay took the ball with 1:07 left, and a Rodgers run for 21 yards proved to be the biggest gain on the ensuing series (with no time outs left, to boot). Rodgers found Adams for 19 yards with 11 seconds left, and after an incompletion, Crosby won the game.
3. Making Jordy Nelson's catch count (Dec. 18, 2016 vs. Bears)
Final score: Green Bay 30, Chicago 27
The kick: 32-yarder as time expires
On a cold 11-degree day at Soldier Field, the game will be remembered for the 60-yard completion Rodgers delivered to Nelson down to the Bears' 14-yard line with less than 30 seconds on the clock.
Chicago's Connor Barth had tied the game with a 22-yard field goal with 1:23 left but, on third-and-11, Rodgers aired one out and Nelson got a step on his man to make a stumbling catch. Rodgers spiked the ball with 4 seconds left, and Crosby calmly put it through.
2. A debut to remember (Sept. 9, 2007 vs. Eagles)
Final score: Green Bay 16, Philadelphia 13
The kick: 42-yarder with 6 seconds left
In his first game as a member of the Packers, Crosby hit the tying field goal late in the third quarter from 37 yards and then capped a drive that began with 2:32 left at the Packers own 22-yard line. It happened to be Brett Favre's final regular-season opener with the Packers, and it came attached with drama, but not necessarily because of a heroic final drive.
With 1:09 left, Green Bay punted from its own 40 on fourth-and-3, but J.R. Reed muffed the catch, and Jarrett Bush recovered at the Philadelphia 31. After a couple of modest gains, Crosby was set up to be the hero in his NFL debut. The snap was high, but Crosby tucked the ball past the left upright.
"Mason has ice water in his veins," said punter Jon Ryan, who plucked the high snap from Rob Davis on the winner. "He was clutch today. He didn’t look like a rookie. Hitting a 53-yarder in the first quarter and then one in a comeback game, that’s two big kicks right there."
1. The playoff stunner (Jan. 15, 2017 vs. Cowboys)
Final score: Green Bay 34, Dallas 31
The kick: 51-yarder as time expires
It's pretty easy to identify this one as No. 1.
In the playoffs at AT&T Stadium against the top-seeded Dallas Cowboys, the Packers staged a dramatic playoff upset, with Crosby hitting a 51-yarder to win not once, but twice (with the first attempt negated by a timeout).
Not only that, but he also hit a 56-yarder to give the Packers a 31-28 lead with 1:33 to go, only to watch the Cowboys bounce back on a Dan Bailey 52-yarder with 35 seconds left. That leads into a masterful 36-yard sideline pass to Jared Cook from Rodgers that allowed Crosby to play hero and advance to the NFC championship game against Atlanta.
"Mason is the best kicker in the NFL," coach Mike McCarthy said. "I think he could have hit that 10 out of 10. I don't think there is a doubt in anyone's mind. He's a machine."
As 5-point underdogs, it was the biggest upset that the Packers had posted in the postseason since the watershed divisional victory at San Francisco in 1995.
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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Ranking Mason Crosby's 12 game-winning kicks with the Green Bay Packers
