Kickers are People Too

When a team doesn't have the start they were hoping for to start out the season, they can always turn to divisional games to dig themselves out of a hole. The Lions found themselves in this position with a 1-3 record going into a home game against the rival Green Bay Packers. For years Packers have dominated in the series against Detroit. On many occasions, when it looked like Lions were going to come out with a dub, Aaron Rodgers would throw a crazy Hail Mary TD pass, or a long field goal kick, But this week, the result was different. Early game Detroit was moving the ball, and I'll admit, getting lucky. On the opening drive quarterback Mathew Stafford threw a long TD pass to Marvin Jones Jr before getting a holding call that brought the play back. Due to that they were forced to punt, and the luck started to set in. On the punt, a Packers player accidentally touched the ball, therefore making the ball live and giving possession to whoever gets it. Detroit recovers and gets the ball on about the 1 yard line. After only one play they were able to move those ten yard to make the score 7-0. This series of plays shows how the rest of the game went. Green Bay has always been known for being one of the better teams in the league. They very rarely come out and miss opportunities to score points, but that's exactly what they did this week. Lions defence was all over Rodgers, forcing him to get rid of the ball quickly or even taking the sack. Lions were also able to strip sack Rodgers not once but twice. On top of this Detroit was moving the ball on offence, making moves and scoring. Ultimately, the 3 turnovers by Green Bay isn't what lead to their loss, it was the missed field goals. Packers kicker, Mason Crosby lined up for 5 field goals and 1 extra point, but missed the point after as well as 4 of the 5 field goals. He finally made the only field goal of the game late in the game after the game was already out of reach.

 The NFL is a harsh place for kickers. Many easily can lose their jobs for missing one field goal because it may have been a big moment or chance to win the game. If Crosby would have been able to make all of his field goal kicks, the packers would have had the lead, assuming the Lions wouldn't have changed their play style with a closer game. I feel that many kickers in this league can easily be unappreciated because of the fact that their only job is to kick it through the uprights. They are expected to make those kicks consistently on a  weekly basis which is not easy to do. Detroit went through struggles with kickers after Jason Hanson retired. Hanson, who was one of the better kickers in the league, left Detroit with no one to immediately take his place. After a hand full of kickers who struggled, Lions finally sign Matt Prater, who has been able to hit crazy long field goals and isn't afraid to nail one to win the game.

 Overall this weeks win was big for Detroit, especially being against a division rival. Next week Lions have a bye week and will have time to practice get healed for the back stretch of the season.