Tapp-ing into the Numbers: 40 Packers Stats Until Opening Kickoff (No. 28)

By JERRY TAPP

Is it possible that having consistency in the placekicking game can be a key to overall team success?

The two best teams in the league over the past 10 years have been the New England Patriots and Green Bay Packers. In addition to have long-time coaches (Bill Belichick and Mike McCarthy) and long-time quarterbacks (Aaron Rodgers and Tom Brady), it’s interesting to note that both teams have had the same placekicker in this same time period (Stephen Gostkowski and Mason Crosby).

In fact, if we note how many different placekickers have attempted a field goal for all NFL teams since 2000, the two teams with the fewest number of placekickers on this list are the Patriots and Packers with three kickers each. At the other end of the list are the Washington Redskins; they have had 17 different kickers attempt a field goal from 2000-16.

Here’s a look at the number of placekickers who have attempted a field goal for each NFL team from 2000-16.

3: Green Bay, New England
4: L.A. Raiders
5: Houston, Philadelphia, Seattle
6: Chicago, Detroit, Indianapolis. L.A. Rams
7: Cleveland, Denver, N.Y. Jets, Pittsburgh, Tennessee
8: Atlanta, Baltimore, Buffalo, Cincinnati, Minnesota, San Diego
9: Arizona
10: Carolina, Dallas, Jacksonville, Miami
11: San Francisco
12: Kansas City, New Orleans, Tampa Bay
13: N.Y. Giants
17: Washington

For those of you who are curious, here are the three kickers for both the Packers and Patriots, and the 17 kickers who attempted a field goal since 2000 for the Redskins.

Green Bay: Ryan Longwell, Dave Rayner, Mason Crosby

New England: Adam Vinatieri, Stephen Gostkowski, Shayne Graham

Washington: Scott Bentley, Jeff Chandler, Brett Conway, Jose Cortez, Billy Cundiff, Kai Forbath, Graham Gano, John Hall, Kris Heppner, Dustin Hopkins, Michael Husted, Ola Kimrin, Eddie Murray, Nick Novak, John Potter, Shaun Suisham and James Tuthill.