Can we finally say CROSBY HAS TO GO?

[Patler]

And while we're talking kickers, I've never been a fan of Kampinos, but his booming punt when we got stuffed on 3rd & 1 at the end of the Bear game was huge. I think the punt was 50-some yards, great hang time, and then the Bears pulled a Packer and had a penalty on the return. Clutch kick at a time when a 38 yarder would have put some big pressure on the D.

Kampinos is certainly no great shakes as a punter, but as with all things in sports you have to evaluate the totality of performances and contributing factors to failures.

Case in point: I think it was against the Ravens. Kampinos had a beautiful punt that hit inside the 5, bounced up into the air and hit again at about the three. It bounced reasonably high again, then barely went into the endzone before any Packer player even showed up on the TV screen. They immediately switched to a shot of Kampinos with this bewildered look on his face, as if to say, "What do I have to do?". Of course, all the articles said was that Kampinos failed to keep the ball inside the 20, when the problem on that kick was that no one on the coverage team got there. It seemed to have reasonable hang time, hit once and bounced fairly high before hitting again in play. Even the second bounce was up, not skittering on the ground. They never showed a wide enough view to see what happened on coverage, but I suspect the guys never got off the blocks Someone certainly should have gotten there sooner than they did.

The next time Kampinos punted he kicked to about the 18.

[Airin' Rodgers]

And while we're talking kickers, I've never been a fan of Kampinos, but his booming punt when we got stuffed on 3rd & 1 at the end of the Bear game was huge. I think the punt was 50-some yards, great hang time, and then the Bears pulled a Packer and had a penalty on the return. Clutch kick at a time when a 38 yarder would have put some big pressure on the D.

Kampinos is certainly no great shakes as a punter, but as with all things in sports you have to evaluate the totality of performances and contributing factors to failures.

Case in point: I think it was against the Ravens. Kampinos had a beautiful punt that hit inside the 5, bounced up into the air and hit again at about the three. It bounced reasonably high again, then barely went into the endzone before any Packer player even showed up on the TV screen. They immediately switched to a shot of Kampinos with this bewildered look on his face, as if to say, "What do I have to do?". Of course, all the articles said was that Kampinos failed to keep the ball inside the 20, when the problem on that kick was that no one on the coverage team got there. It seemed to have reasonable hang time, hit once and bounced fairly high before hitting again in play. Even the second bounce was up, not skittering on the ground. They never showed a wide enough view to see what happened on coverage, but I suspect the guys never got off the blocks Someone certainly should have gotten there sooner than they did.

The next time Kampinos punted he kicked to about the 18.

Honestly, I don't think Kapinos is a huge problem. He is average. He just has trouble pinning them deep. His length is fine, he has punts over 50 in nearly every game. Take a look:

PUNTS AVG LNG YDS TB TB% IN20 IN20% RET AVG NET
1 CHI W 21-15 6 44.7 58 268 2 33.3 1 16.7 2 7.5 35.5
2 CIN L 31-24 6 43.2 53 259 0 0.0 1 16.7 5 22.8 24.2
3 @STL W 36-17 4 50.0 54 200 0 0.0 3 75.0 2 11.5 44.3
4 @MIN L 30-23 2 51.0 51 102 0 0.0 0 0.0 2 21.0 30.0
5 Bye Week
6 DET W 26-0 2 41.0 41 82 0 0.0 1 50.0 1 0.0 41.0
7 @CLE W 31-3 2 43.5 45 87 1 50.0 0 0.0 1 9.0 29.0
8 MIN L 38-26 5 43.2 52 216 0 0.0 1 20.0 5 7.4 35.8
9 @TB L 38-28 6 41.2 50 247 0 0.0 2 33.3 4 13.5 32.2
10 DAL W 17-7 7 43.7 52 306 1 14.3 1 14.3 5 8.2 35.0
11 SF W 30-24 5 43.4 57 217 1 20.0 2 40.0 3 2.3 38.0
12 @DET W 34-12 3 44.0 57 132 1 33.3 0 0.0 1 14.0 32.7
13 BAL W 27-14 3 43.0 53 129 1 33.3 1 33.3 1 6.0 34.3
14 @CHI W 21-14 4 43.3 51

I think its the coverage team myself. He is 14th in the league in gross average. Dead last in net. Big returns and touchbacks kill it

[Noodle]

Kicking in GB and 14th in gross? That's pretty dang good. I also think you're right -- coverage teams, whether Punt or KO, are just killing the Pack this year.

[Pugger]

I'm not gonna complain about Kapinos after that disaster with Frost!!

[pbmax]

Kicking in GB and 14th in gross? That's pretty dang good. I also think you're right -- coverage teams, whether Punt or KO, are just killing the Pack this year.

Hang time has been a problem. Like Ryan, Kampinos earlier this year was trading hang time for distance. Then, after what was presumably several private admonitions, got a public calling out by Slocum for bad footwork. He was taking too long a stride. That wasn't helping his coverage teams.

Since then, he has seemed to be getting better lift on his kicks. His coverage teams have still struggled, but there have been some bright spots like the Bears game.

[Merlin]

Look for Kapinos to get some competition in the off season or hell even this season heading into the playoffs. He has been unfairly evaluated and he has done a fairly decent job. The issue are the negative evaluations of his performance - regardless of how the coverage is on the punt and that isn't really fair but stats are what drives life in the NFL. John Ryan would probably have much better touch on the ball had we given him the opportunity to grow in the system, he definitely had the leg - he was improving with his hang time and touch when we gave him the boot. I don't see much patience with Kapinos, we haven't had any patience with any punter since letting Bidwell leave.

When Rayner and Crosby were in the competition, Crosby edged Rayner out by a very small margin. I said it then and I will say it now, in that case you stick with the veteran. Crosby has a big leg, can probably hit a 70 yarder (as could Rayner), but he isn't kicking worth a crap right now and has chocked when we needed him (Vikings 2008) I would say as many times as he has been there when we needed him. Now, I say stick with him and see if he can overcome whatever his issue is. Just like Rayner before him, you stick with the veteran and Crosby has the leg to be a very good kicker in the NFL. But knowing the Packers and Thompson, we will have another kicker in for competition, it will be close, and we will go with the younger guy.

[BallHawk]

Crosby...has chocked when we needed him (Vikings 2008)

You call missing a 52-yard FG choking? Why does everybody have such unrealistic expectations for Crosby? I understand getting frustrated with him for consistently missing kicks from the right hashmark, ok. But you're gonna say he choked by missing a FG that has a higher fail rate than success rate? And let's not forget that McCarthy was pathetically passive towards the end of that drive and seemed content to settle for such a long FG. That kick was barely wide right. If MM had gotten the ball 5 yards closer it woulda been good and we woulda got the win.

[ThunderDan]

Look for Kapinos to get some competition in the off season or hell even this season heading into the playoffs. He has been unfairly evaluated and he has done a fairly decent job. The issue are the negative evaluations of his performance - regardless of how the coverage is on the punt and that isn't really fair but stats are what drives life in the NFL. John Ryan would probably have much better touch on the ball had we given him the opportunity to grow in the system, he definitely had the leg - he was improving with his hang time and touch when we gave him the boot. I don't see much patience with Kapinos, we haven't had any patience with any punter since letting Bidwell leave.

When Rayner and Crosby were in the competition, Crosby edged Rayner out by a very small margin. I said it then and I will say it now, in that case you stick with the veteran. Crosby has a big leg, can probably hit a 70 yarder (as could Rayner), but he isn't kicking worth a crap right now and has chocked when we needed him (Vikings 2008) I would say as many times as he has been there when we needed him. Now, I say stick with him and see if he can overcome whatever his issue is. Just like Rayner before him, you stick with the veteran and Crosby has the leg to be a very good kicker in the NFL. But knowing the Packers and Thompson, we will have another kicker in for competition, it will be close, and we will go with the younger guy.

The same Dave Rayner who went 15/22 or 68% in 2007 after getting cut by the Packer? 6/9 from 30-39 5/8 from 40-49 and 0/1 from 50+. That's 11 for 18 over 30 yards or 61%.

Crosby has made 78.1% of his kicks since joining the Pack. This year being his worst at 75%. Crosby is 75/89 under 50 yards or 84% for his career.

[Zool]

Look for Kapinos to get some competition in the off season or hell even this season heading into the playoffs. He has been unfairly evaluated and he has done a fairly decent job. The issue are the negative evaluations of his performance - regardless of how the coverage is on the punt and that isn't really fair but stats are what drives life in the NFL. John Ryan would probably have much better touch on the ball had we given him the opportunity to grow in the system, he definitely had the leg - he was improving with his hang time and touch when we gave him the boot. I don't see much patience with Kapinos, we haven't had any patience with any punter since letting Bidwell leave.

When Rayner and Crosby were in the competition, Crosby edged Rayner out by a very small margin. I said it then and I will say it now, in that case you stick with the veteran. Crosby has a big leg, can probably hit a 70 yarder (as could Rayner), but he isn't kicking worth a crap right now and has chocked when we needed him (Vikings 2008) I would say as many times as he has been there when we needed him. Now, I say stick with him and see if he can overcome whatever his issue is. Just like Rayner before him, you stick with the veteran and Crosby has the leg to be a very good kicker in the NFL. But knowing the Packers and Thompson, we will have another kicker in for competition, it will be close, and we will go with the younger guy.

The same Dave Rayner who went 15/22 or 68% in 2007 after getting cut by the Packer? 6/9 from 30-39 5/8 from 40-49 and 0/1 from 50+. That's 11 for 18 over 30 yards or 61%.

Crosby has made 78.1% of his kicks since joining the Pack. This year being his worst at 75%. Crosby is 75/89 under 50 yards or 84% for his career.

Couldnt possibly be the same Raynor. Didn't he have a twin who was a better kicker?

[ThunderDan]

Look for Kapinos to get some competition in the off season or hell even this season heading into the playoffs. He has been unfairly evaluated and he has done a fairly decent job. The issue are the negative evaluations of his performance - regardless of how the coverage is on the punt and that isn't really fair but stats are what drives life in the NFL. John Ryan would probably have much better touch on the ball had we given him the opportunity to grow in the system, he definitely had the leg - he was improving with his hang time and touch when we gave him the boot. I don't see much patience with Kapinos, we haven't had any patience with any punter since letting Bidwell leave.

When Rayner and Crosby were in the competition, Crosby edged Rayner out by a very small margin. I said it then and I will say it now, in that case you stick with the veteran. Crosby has a big leg, can probably hit a 70 yarder (as could Rayner), but he isn't kicking worth a crap right now and has chocked when we needed him (Vikings 2008) I would say as many times as he has been there when we needed him. Now, I say stick with him and see if he can overcome whatever his issue is. Just like Rayner before him, you stick with the veteran and Crosby has the leg to be a very good kicker in the NFL. But knowing the Packers and Thompson, we will have another kicker in for competition, it will be close, and we will go with the younger guy.

The same Dave Rayner who went 15/22 or 68% in 2007 after getting cut by the Packer? 6/9 from 30-39 5/8 from 40-49 and 0/1 from 50+. That's 11 for 18 over 30 yards or 61%.

Crosby has made 78.1% of his kicks since joining the Pack. This year being his worst at 75%. Crosby is 75/89 under 50 yards or 84% for his career.

Couldnt possibly be the same Raynor. Didn't he have a twin who was a better kicker?

Rayner's highlight on NFL.com is his 2008 FG for the Bengals. His only FG during the last 2 years. I wonder why no one picked him up?

[Brandon494]

http://vimeo.com/8227888

[Tyrone Bigguns]

There are certain players, that for no logic, Merlin has decided where better than they were and didn't get a fair shake..rayner and nall.

Despite the raw deal they received in Green Bay, both were able to show their stuff in other locales, ultimately enjoying long careers and proving the Green Bay brass they had made a mistake.

[pack4to84]

any of you watching the Jets/Falcon game. Crosby would be an improvement over this kickers.

[MJZiggy]

I see that. How many misses today?

[pack4to84]

I see that. How many misses today?

Feely of Jets missed one right, had one blocked and had a bobble snap on another no kick. Falcons kicker missed one at 38 yards