Mason Crosby's missed kicks doom Packers in 31-23 loss to Lions

DETROIT – Mason Crosby didn't have any excuses Sunday.

The Green Bay Packers kicker, who had never missed three field goals in a game despite spending 12 seasons at Lambeau Field, missed four and an extra point in a 31-23 loss to the Detroit Lions, who got two touchdown passes from Matthew Stafford and a pair of TD runs from LeGarrette Blount.

"I don't usually get this much attention unless I've done something really good or really bad," Crosby told a crowd of reporters after the game. "This one is unfortunately really bad."

Crosby got a small amount of redemption by making a 41-yard field goal with 2 seconds left, but his onside kick bounced right to Detroit's Marvin Jones.

"I look back and I'm thinking, in my childhood, in high school, this is definitely one of the worst ones," said Crosby, the first NFL kicker to miss four field goals in a game since 2010.

To make things even stranger, the game was played indoors at Ford Field, a kicker's paradise. Crosby was wide left on a 41-yarder late in the first quarter; hit the right upright from 42 yards early in the second quarter; and missed wide right on a 38-yard attempt with 3:38 left in the first half.

Jones then caught a touchdown pass near the end of the half to give Detroit (2-3) a 24-0 lead.

In the second half, Crosby missed a 56-yarder and an extra point. Stafford's touchdown pass to Kenny Golladay early in the fourth quarter gave the Lions a 31-14 lead.

None of that was enough to worry his most important teammate. "Mason and I have played together for a long time, and I strongly believe he's one of the greatest kickers of all time," said quarterback Aaron Rodgers, who lost two fumbles for only the third time in his 14-year career. "He and Robbie Gould have mastered kicking in the elements. He had a bad day today, but we still believe in him 100 percent."

Crosby, 34, is working with a rookie long snapper in Hunter Bradley and a rookie holder in J.K. Scott, but they didn't appear to be at fault on any of the kicks. Crosby came in having made 10 of 11 field goals this season, with the only miss coming from 52 yards at the end of regulation in the tie with the Vikings at Lambeau Field.

"This hurts a bunch," he said. "I left a bunch of points on the field for this team."

Detroit, which swept two games from Green Bay last year without having to face Rodgers either time, earned a victory it desperately needed under first-year coach Matt Patricia, going into its bye week.