The kickoff team has been pretty great this year:
http://www.jsonline.com/sports/packers/mason-crosby-leads-kickoff-team-to-best-start-in-a-decade-b99602272z1-336975061.html
Green Bay — Mason Crosby's powerful boots and sure tackling by his teammates have the Green Bay Packers on course to post their best season in kickoff coverage in more than a decade.
The Packers entered the bye weekend tied for sixth in the NFL in opponents' average starting position at 20.1.
Their last two full-season rankings were 30th at 24.1 last year and 32nd (25.6) in 2013.
Safety Chris Banjo, the leading tackler on special teams with nine, said it would be premature to call this kickoff team the best he has played on since arriving in 2013.
"I still think it's way too early to say," said Banjo. "We're just trying to get to a higher level."
The Packers haven't finished a season with a top-10 ranking in this category since Crosby's rookie season, when they tied for ninth at 26.6. They ranked tied for 21st (27.8) in 2008, 31st in '09 (28.9), 31st in '10 (29.8), tied for 19th in '11 (22.2) and tied for 23rd in '12 (23.1).
Average drive starts nose-dived in 2011, the first year the NFL moved the ball forward from the 30-yard line to the 35 on kickoffs.
The constant over the last nine seasons has been Crosby, who has adjusted his tactics on kickoffs since the rules change while expanding his repertoire of kicks.
A major reason why the Packers spent a sixth-round draft on Crosby in 2007 was his leg strength. Crosby's field-goal kicking was hit-or-miss at times during his first six seasons, but none of his coaches ever did anything but praise his performance on kickoffs.
Before the rules change, many more kickoffs were returned. From 2007-'10, Crosby's statistics show a player who concentrated as much if not more on hang time than distance.
Using data from just the first eight games of his first four seasons (intentional squib kicks weren't included), Crosby's midseason averages were 68.94 yards and 4.06 seconds of hang time in 2007, 69.04 and 3.87 in '08, 68.58 and 4.00 in '09, and 66.70 and 3.93 in '10.
Since the rules change in 2011, Crosby generally appears to have started kicking primarily for distance, at least in the first half of the season when the weather was temperate.
His averages for the first eight games each year reflect greater distance and less hang time: 70.91 and 3.76 in 2011, 71.63 and 3.88 in '12, and 73.13 and 3.85 in '14.
In 2013, punter Tim Masthay kicked off 34 times in the first half of the season compared with just nine for Crosby. Crosby's nine-boot averages were 70.0 and 3.84.
This season, Crosby's hang time of 3.74 is slightly lower than any of his midseason averages. His average distance of 72.46, however, is second best.
"I feel like I've been kicking off pretty well this year," Crosby said recently. "I had two that I just mis-hit. The rest I feel like I hit really well. Just try to stay consistent."
In some situations, Crosby doesn't even seem to care about hang time. He's just swinging away, and given his power some of his line-drive kickoffs have been either too hot for the return man to handle or too far wide for him to return.
"The key is to keep them guessing," said Crosby. "You change your spot just to keep them in the middle (of the field) so when you decide to hit a hard, wide ball they have to stretch to try to get over there."
One of Crosby's mis-hits (2.12 hang time) was returned 54 yards by Kansas City's Knile Davis. It's easily the longest return allowed by the Packers.
"We just tell him to kick the ball," Banjo said. "We try to do a great job in terms of covering whatever he kicks."
Ron Zook, the first-year coordinator of special teams, showed extreme confidence in his coverage unit against Tyler Lockett, Seattle's exceptional rookie return specialist, when he asked Crosby to kick deep six times in seven boots. The Seahawks, who ranked sixth in average kickoff return, had an average start point of the 17 against the Packers.
"Our coverage unit has done a great job," said Crosby. "We've got a lot of smart, good football players."
Entering the bye week, Crosby was tied for ninth in touchbacks with 19.
Running appreciated: Guard T.J. Lang was drafted in the fourth round in 2009, one year before running back James Starks arrived in the sixth round.
Both have had their ups and downs, but Lang always has respected Starks for his overall contributions.
"Obviously, a couple years ago he was our go-to guy," Lang said after the Packers' 27-20 victory over the San Diego Chargers last week. "Then Eddie (Lacy) comes in and he kind of has to take a back seat. But it didn't change his approach to the game. He always prepared as if he was a starter."
The high point of Starks' six-year career was the playoffs in 2010. After replacing Brandon Jackson as the featured back, Starks carried 81 times for 315 yards (3.9 average) in four games and the Packers won the Super Bowl.
"It's hard to find a better teammate," said Lang. "Always got a positive attitude. Just the way he plays the game. The passion he has. Always searching to get better. It was very evident tonight. He took advantage of his opportunities."
Starks carried 10 times for 112 yards against the Chargers, including a 65-yard touchdown that was the Packers' longest rush since Randall Cobb went 67 against Detroit in Game 4 of 2013.
"They (the Chargers) gave us an overload front to the right," Lang said. "We had an outside-zone play to the left, they were crashing down and he cuts it all the way to the right sideline. Just tremendous vision by him."
Starks, 29, leads the team in rushing yards with 286.
Added Lang: "He's confident. He wants his number to get called, and he cashes in it seems every time it does. He's always prepared. You just know he's going to go out there and get the job done."
Side to side: Masthay has drawn praise from Zook for his ability to follow instructions and deliver punts either left or right depending on the call.
Masthay, a six-year veteran, said the Packers aren't doing any more directional punting this season than in the past.
"Every year I've been here we've always been a directional team," said Masthay. "I'd say most teams are.
"Some teams, it may mean (punting) right on the sidelines. Some teams, it may mean (punting) just to the numbers. Some teams may call left, right or middle. We mix it up."
Entering the bye week Masthay ranked 22nd in net average (38.3 yards) and tied for 26th in gross average (43.3).
New ideas: Jerry Montgomery, the Packers' first-year assistant coach with the newly created title of defensive front assistant, coached the defensive line the past eight seasons at Northern Iowa, Wyoming, Michigan and Oklahoma.
According to nose tackle B.J. Raji, the Packers' defensive staff benefited against running quarterbacks Russell Wilson of Seattle and Colin Kaepernick of San Francisco because Montgomery was fresh from the college game.
"I think he has been (a good addition)," said Raji. "Particularly early in the season because so many of the teams use the zone read.
"In college, you see that a lot. It definitely helps, particularly us in the interior. Understanding what we're trying to get accomplished. He's helped us."
