Masthay Delivers

[pbmax]

From Bob McGinn's Rating the Packers vs. Eagles

Tim Masthay had to stand on the field for the entire 2-minute break knowing the dynamic Jackson was awaiting his punt. Masthay then got off a 41-yard boot with hang time of 4.76 seconds, his best in the last 27 punts.

I don't believe "clutch" is a repeatable skill, but that hang time in cold weather is pretty damn impressive. Good for him.

[sheepshead]

Even my girlfriend, who doesn't watch a lot of football, commented on that one. I said this in another thread, but I thought his performance against the bears was the finest punting game I can recall ever.

[RashanGary]

It's all coming together here at the end. ST's, running game, defense. . . . . This season might be a special.

[Noodle]

Good thread, PB. As Masthay was back waiting for the snap, the camera focused in on him, and I was thinking about the things going on in the guy's head. Kicking in to the wind. Cold. To a guy who gutted the Giants a couple of weeks ago. Masthay just nails it, booming 41 yards it to the left hash. Clutch may not be repeatable, but that kick had to do wonders for Masthay's confidence.

Next time he won't be wondering if, he'll just be focusing on how.

Amazing piece of work. And I agree about that Bears game -- I thought Masthay was the MVP of that game.

[Tarlam!]

Don't kill the messenger, but the kid is accrediting his vast improvement to Slocum's coaching.

[Smidgeon]

Don't kill the messenger, but the kid is accrediting his vast improvement to Slocum's coaching.

Slocum may not be all that bad. He had a sinking ship when he took the job. First he had to patch the holes, and now he has to get the water out. Here's what he has done so far:

1) special teams penalties way down
2) Crosby didn't miss from the right hash every time he stepped on the field
3) a rookie punter has showed up huge in the regular season at a position where it usually takes two or three stops to stick

Those are good things, and I hope he continues that improvement with his teams.

[MichiganPackerFan]

Even my girlfriend, who doesn't watch a lot of football, commented on that one. I said this in another thread, but I thought his performance against the bears was the finest punting game I can recall ever.

That game was good, but was it really better than his game against the jets? He buried them on the two twice, but his performance against the Jets was great

[Patler]

There was a time at midseason when it looked kind of bad for Masthay. MM said in one of his press conferences that they simply had to punt better in games than they were. He said Masthay was excellent in practice, but wasn't transferring it to games and they needed to work with him to get there. It was about as critical about a specific player as MM ever gets. Two or three games later Masthay seemed to hit a groove in his punting and has been following it ever since. He has nailed some big-time punts when they were needed, and hasn't had a bad one for some time.

[packerbacker1234]

Mastay has been doing better lately, I feel, because we've been directional punting, which is a lost art in the NFL. As it turns out, Mastay is actually a decent directional kicker.

[mraynrand]

The key has been the hang time. It's really allowed the Packer gunners to make plays. Thinking about Bush catching the punt against Chicago; forcing a lot of fair catches.

[VermontPackFan]

Isnt it great to see GB win a few field positional battles due to good punts and even better coverage? Its been a long time coming but it could not happen at a better time!

[Cheesehead Craig]

The key has been the hang time. It's really allowed the Packer gunners to make plays. Thinking about Bush catching the punt against Chicago; forcing a lot of fair catches.

This. His hang time has been ridiculous lately. I don't care if he "only" kicks a 40 yd punt. if that's up there for 4.5+ seconds, that gives the coverage unit plenty of time to get there and eliminate the big return.

[Noodle]

If Slocum is responsible for Masthay's kicking, then God love him.

But I won't. Because I can recall getting gashed on two kick-off returns that cost us the Division -- the long return after A-Rod tied the game against Atlanta, after which the Falcons needed to drive only 20 yards to kick the game-winner, and that horrific, humiliating, stumblin', rumblin', bumblin' return by that 900 lb Pats lineman that set up an easy score.

Clean up KO coverage so that I don't cringe on every return by an opponent, then I'll start showing Slocum some love.

[mraynrand]

If Slocum is responsible for Masthay's kicking, then God love him.

But I won't. Because I can recall getting gashed on two kick-off returns that cost us the Division -- the long return after A-Rod tied the game against Atlanta, after which the Falcons needed to drive only 20 yards to kick the game-winner, and that horrific, humiliating, stumblin', rumblin', bumblin' return by that 900 lb Pats lineman that set up an easy score.

Clean up KO coverage so that I don't cringe on every return by an opponent, then I'll start showing Slocum some love.

Slocum still loves you anyway

[Joemailman]

If Slocum is responsible for Masthay's kicking, then God love him.

But I won't. Because I can recall getting gashed on two kick-off returns that cost us the Division -- the long return after A-Rod tied the game against Atlanta, after which the Falcons needed to drive only 20 yards to kick the game-winner, and that horrific, humiliating, stumblin', rumblin', bumblin' return by that 900 lb Pats lineman that set up an easy score.

Clean up KO coverage so that I don't cringe on every return by an opponent, then I'll start showing Slocum some love.

The coverage has been a lot better the last 3 weeks as the injury situation has stabilized and there has been some continuity in the kick coverage lineup. 3 weeks don't make a career, but there's some reason to think Slocum can coach these guys if the lineup isn't constantly changing.