INDIANAPOLIS – Mason Crosby doesn't know what happened on the potential game-tying field goal that swerved way left on Sunday.
He just knows it was "weird."
"I haven't hit a ball that moved like that in a long time," Crosby said, moments after his 51-yard field goal try missed well left and left the Packers with a 30-27 loss to the Colts at Lucas Oil Stadium. "It's weird."
"It's a big disappointment. It came straight off and then it just jumped over to the left like a knuckleball, kind of. We'll have to take a look at the tape, slow it down, and see what happened at contact."
Earlier in the game, Crosby missed a 52-yard try that leaked out to the right. He said he "got under it and pushed it a little bit," but he added that the result didn't change the way he approached the final kick.
"No, I was not aiming any different," he said. "We're inside. I thought my steps and everything were good. It just came off a little weird. I thought the ball might have been moving on the spot a little bit. We'll have to take a look and see what happened."
Those were Crosby's first two misses of the season. He had been 5-for-5 on field goals through the first four games, including one make from 50-plus.
Marked man: Cornerback Sam Shields didn't say he feels cursed, but no one would blame him if he did.
With just under two minutes left in the third quarter, Shields was step for step with Colts receiver Donnie Avery down the far sideline. Avery appeared to give Shields a shove in the back as the pass sailed well over both players' heads and out of bounds, and the flag flew – for pass interference on Shields.
The penalty gave the Colts 25 yards and a first down at the Green Bay 17. Four plays later, the Colts were in the end zone to cut the Packers lead to 21-19.
Shields said he didn't discuss the call with the official who made it, but apparently cornerback Charles Woodson did.
" 'Wood' came to me, and (the official) was saying that the defender can't be on top of the receiver, kind of like blocking him out I guess," Shields said. "I've never heard of that, but that's what 'Wood' said to me."
Shields, of course, was the victim of a phantom pass interference call in Seattle on a similar play with the replacement officials. Those replacements also missed a blatant offensive pass interference on Seattle's Hail Mary on the final play.
But the mild-mannered Shields will keep plugging along.
"There's nothing I can do about it," he said. "Just keep playing, just keep doing what I'm doing."
Busting loose: Running back Alex Green hadn't posted an NFL carry longer than 8 yards in his career, and not one longer than 5 yards on Sunday, when he broke loose on a fourth-quarter draw play for 41 yards that set up the Packers for their only second-half touchdown.
Green had taken over for Cedric Benson, who left the game in the second quarter with a foot injury. Other than the one carry, it was pretty tough sledding for Green, who had just 14 yards on his other eight rushes in the game.
"They weren't really expecting it," Green said of the draw call, which came with just under five minutes left and the Packers trailing, 22-21. "The O-line did a great job, the tight ends did a great job of blocking. That felt good. Would have felt better to win."
The severity of Benson's foot injury isn't known. He said at the end of a run his foot was still planted in the ground and the tackler from behind landed on his heel. A Colts defender was called for unnecessary roughness on the play for hitting Benson in the head when he was on the ground, but that's not the hit that hurt him. Benson said he'll have some tests done on Monday.
"I feel like it's a short-term thing," Benson said. "I was able to walk off. I don't feel like it's anything real severe."
The Packers also lost tight end Jermichael Finley (shoulder) and nose tackle B.J. Raji (ankle) to injuries during the game.
One regret: Wide receiver James Jones turned in his second straight two-TD game, but he was wishing he would have been able to get a hand on the ball that Colts cornerback Jerraud Powers intercepted in the third quarter.
Quarterback Aaron Rodgers tried to hit Jones along the sideline with a back-shoulder throw, but Powers was able to stop and change direction a tad quicker than Jones and he plucked it out of the air, right in front of Jones' facemask.
"I could have made a better swipe at the ball to try to get it out of his hands, but he made a good play," said Jones, who finished with four catches for 46 yards and the two scores. "They get paid, too. They're going to make some plays, too."
Jones said he didn't see the Colts doing much different schematically in the second half as they slowed the Packers down after Green Bay's 21-point first half.
"Nothing really different," he said. "I believe it was miscommunication by us, lack of focus by us, not coming out and playing as well as we could. We all know we left a lot of plays out there."
Turnover drought ends: When rookie cornerback Casey Hayward intercepted Andrew Luck's pass intended for Reggie Wayne in the fourth quarter, it broke a Packers' turnover drought of 11 quarters. It was the first interception of Hayward's career and the Packers' first defensive turnover since Week 2 against Chicago.
Defensive end Mike Neal was active for a game for the first time this season and recorded a sack, the second of his career. It was his first sack in basically two full years.
His last sack came in Week 5 of 2010 at Washington. Since then, Neal had played in just seven regular-season games due to injuries and a four-game suspension to start this season.
