The Press Gazette went and put kicker Mason Crosby’s 2012 struggles into some historical perspective. They put together the list of kickers who hit on less than 70 percent of their field goals (minimum 20 kicks) in the past 10 years. The Green Bay Packers kicker came in at No. 5 on that list of crap.
However, what they didn’t look at is how these guys performed after their craptacular season. So that’s where we come in. You know, to give full perspective to lazy-ass journalist’s work.
Here are the worst kicking seasons in the NFL since 2002, according to the PG. Also, good job. Peterson kicked for Pittsburgh in 2002. He played for San Fran in 2003 and 2004.
1. Todd Peterson, 2002 San Francisco (12-of-21, 57.1 percent)
2. Seth Marler, 2003 Jacksonville (20-of-33, 60.6 percent)
3. Martin Gramatica, 2003 Tampa Bay (16-of-26, 61.5 percent)
4. Paul Edinger, 2004 Chicago (15-of-24, 62.5 percent)
5. Mason Crosby, 2012 Green Bay (21-of-33, 63.6 percent)
6t. Nick Folk, 2009 Dallas (18-of-28, 64.3 percent)
6t. Josh Scobee, 2009 Jacksonville (18-of-28, 64.3 percent)
8. Kris Brown, 2009 Houston (21-of-32, 65.6 percent)
9. Sebastian Janikowski, 2005 Oakland (20-of-30, 66.6 percent)
10. Graham Gano, 2010 Washington (24-of-35, 68.6 percent)
11. David Akers, 2012 San Francisco (29-of-42, 69.0 percent)
12. Steve Christie, 2002 San Diego (18-of-26, 69.2 percent)
Here’s what happened next.
1. Peterson — kicked two seasons for the 49ers and one for Atlanta, hitting 80, 81 and 92 percent of his kicks, respectively.
2. Marler — never struck a ball in the NFL again.
3. Gramatica — kicked four more seasons for four different teams, hitting 57, 77, 100 and 60 percent of his kicks, respectively. The year he hit 57 percent, Gramatica only had 19 attempts and therefore didn’t qualify for the list of shit above.
4. Edinger — played one more season — for the Vikings — and hit on 73 percent of his kicks.
5. Crosby
6. Folk — has been kicking for the Jets ever since, hitting on 76, 76 and 77 percent of his kicks in the three seasons following 2009.
6. Scobee — still the kicker in Jacksonville. The team actually franchised this guy since that terrible season and he’s hit on 78, 92 and 89 percent of his kicks since 2009.
8. Brown — went 4-for-5 with San Diego in 2010, but hasn’t played since.
9. Janikowski — probably one of the best kickers in the game, Sea Bass has hit 80 percent of the kicks in his career, including 91 percent last season. He was a Pro Bowler in 2011 and led the league with 33 field goals made in 2010.
10. Gano — spent another season with Washington, hitting 75 percent of his kicks, then kicked in six games for Carolina in 2012, hitting 81 percent.
11. Akers
12. Christie — played another season with San Diego, hitting 75 percent, and then a year with the Giants, hitting 78 percent, before retiring at age 37.
So what does this tell you? Yeah, Crosby was awful in 2012, but there’s good reason to think he can bounce back. Todd Peterson, who had the worst season on the list, did.