For years, Green Bay Packers fans suffered while special teams held the team back. Now, with Rich Bisaccia no longer in the building, that unit has been significantly better, though one major problem remains.
Trey Smack looked like the answer to the Packers' prayers. He was efficient, confident, and showed impressive range to run away with the team's starting kicker competition. Fast forward to today, and the honeymoon phase is clearly over.
The Packers' kicker missed two field goals in the loss to the Detroit Lions, including one that would've given them the lead with just a handful of minutes to play. His mistakes are piling up, and it's officially time to put him on notice.
The Packers must make a move at kicker
This wasn't the first time Smack cost the Packers, though it was the first time it actually led to a loss. He missed two field goals and a PAT in the blowout win over the Chicago Bears before bouncing back vs. the Dallas Cowboys.
But watching him miss two kicks inside the 35-yard line should be a breaking point. We're talking about routine kicks for a professional player; there's simply no excuse for missing a 26-yard field goal, and especially not against a divisional rival.
The Packers traded up to draft Smack out of Florida, which is incredibly rare. So, they will most likely keep him on a long leash. However, that doesn't mean the team should just look the other way while he misses routine kicks.
Instead, they should bring in some external pressure by working out kickers and maybe even signing one. Kicking is as mental as it is physical, so this might only break him even more, but if that's the case, then he doesn't belong in the pros.
The Packers struggled to put points on the board in the final stage of the Brandon McManus era. He was an obvious liability at the end of his tenure, to the point he essentially forced the team's hand to use a draft pick on a special teams player.
Smack has shown that he has the range. He got the ball rolling with a 59-yarder in his first game as a pro. But either he works on fixing what's broken right now, or the Packers will have to explore all their options at the position.
The NFC North is brutal, and those two missed field goals might be the difference between winning the division and missing the playoffs.
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