Unsung Hero: Tim Masthay

Red and Bush, the stoppers. Bears couldn't get any penetration on special teams because of these two precautions.

I'm going to second that thought on Masthay because I've been quite critical on him this year. Every talking head spoke at length about the ST advantage the Bears had & that would be a game decider if it were close. Best post-season ST performance since Desmond Howard in 96.

Red Bush, eh?

i hope masthay and bush are on each other christmas gift list.

they are both making each other look good. And I bet they both will make a lot more money thanks to the other.

D. Hester 3 punt returns for 16 yrds = 5.3 average

This weekend they had the replays of the earlier games against Chicago. It was really tough to watch, Masthay was just awful that first bears game. First he kicked a short line drive that Hester almost housed in the first half (they scored a TD a couple plays later) and of course the boomer that outkicked the coverage that Hester did take back for a TD.

It was like a different guy out there for the last 2 Bear games. He was awesome today.

Agreed. He's been great. It took us a long time to find a worthy replacement for Josh Bidwell, but FINALLY we have him!

Haven't caught the game, but the wife said Hester had a "not good day". So cool, must've been some great hang-time. Sorry Bears fans.

Dude nailed a couple of 60 yarders that shocked the Hell out of Hester to the point he was backtracking and never got his legs under him.

HUGE kicks.

That punt along the sideline was A1 there... he helped them win, for sure.

quote:

Originally posted by CS Pack:
Haven't caught the game, but the wife said Hester had a "not good day".

Wait, what?

Flea Market day.

Love me some ginger.

quote:

Originally posted by Chronic Hobbit:
Red Bush, eh?

It gives you wings?

Pfffft, Bears were just playing vanilla on ST's today.

Fools.

quote:

Originally posted by Henry:
Love me some ginger.

Mary Ann

quote:

Originally posted by Chronic Hobbit:
Red Bush, eh?

ahhh...the memories...

my first "girlfriend" was a redhead....yes...

it's too bad I was too young to understand....but she was a redhead

quote:

Originally posted by RoyalWulff:
Agreed. He's been great. It took us a long time to find a worthy replacement for Josh Bidwell, but FINALLY we have him!

josh bidwell? the "one-nutter"?

please.....

we haven't had anyone good since that guy we let go to the Titans....

Heinkin?

quote:

Originally posted by SanDiegoPackFan:

quote:

Originally posted by RoyalWulff:
Agreed. He's been great. It took us a long time to find a worthy replacement for Josh Bidwell, but FINALLY we have him!

josh bidwell? the "one-nutter"?

please.....

we haven't had anyone good since that guy we let go to the Titans....

Heinkin?

Craig Hentrich! Yeah, that's who I meant!!! Sorry! Bidwell? Cripes,
I must be getting old!

Ryan had talent, but I don't think that many of us would have felt great about him getting the job done at Soldier Field today after that disaster in '07. I'll never forget that game for as long as I live (2 blocks, 1 mishandled snap he had to cover up and a nine yard shank in just one game). Even though we had to put up with Derrick Frost and Jeremy Kapinos for two years before we got Masthay, I think we ended up with the best guy for the job.

Call me crazy, but I could swear Kampinos is punting for Pitt!!



Packers the QB AND Punter school now?! Ryan was in the playoffs too for Seattle!

Masthay's kicking kept Bears in a hole
jsonline.com
By Gary D’Amato of the Journal Sentinel
Jan. 23, 2011 11:03 p.m.

quote:

"Tim played a huge role," receiver Greg Jennings said. "I don't know if he understands it. It will probably be overlooked, but for him to kick the ball the way he did and to keep it out of the hands of the most feared guy on the football field, it was a huge job by him."

(snip)

After his eight punts, the Bears started on their own 16, 2, 11, 18, 33, 20, 10 and 29.

(snip)

"The last punt I hit it about as perfect as I could hit it," Masthay said. "I guess if it would have been about 6 inches to the right (and out of bounds) it would have been better.

"They (the coaches) were really wanting it as close to the sideline and out of bounds as possible. I just took a hard angle and kept my thought process the same as I do on every punt. Sure enough, I hit it right on the button and our guys covered great.continue

Past the click there are more quotes from Masthay and an anecdote about a nod shared before the last punt between Masthay and another member of the Packers.

Punter Tim Masthay an unexpected hero in Packers' win vs. Bears

quote:

Packers general manager Ted Thompson said Masthay "won the game for us."

I was skeptical that he'd be able to replicate his performance against the Bears at Lambeau, but he did it. We've (finally) found a replacement for Craig Hentrich.

I thought that going into the game if the Packers didn't have a special teams meltdown or meltdowns they'd have a good chance to win the game. Well, Hester didn't do much and Manning did nothing - and a lot of that was due to Masthay and his punting.

Great job!

He's been incredible second half of the season. Pro Bowl in his future?

Finally, a punter that can drop the ball inside the 10! Hester was the Bears only real threat and this guy set us up to shut him down.

Hopefully the day of punting it into the endzone, or the 15 yard shank is gone for awhile.

Huge game by Masthay! We were calling him Nastay after a few punts yesterday.
So nice to have an NFL caliber punter on the team again.
Will Kapinos prove to be a liability for the squeelers in two weeks? we'll find out...

Met some friends of his from Kentucky this weekend. Said what a great kid he is and of course they are huge Packer fans now.

He really developed as the season went on. Saved Slocum's job, too, I'll bet.

Peter King at SI called out Masthay for props, saying, "Under the circumstances, I thought Masthay had one of the best postseason games I'd ever seen a punter have. With a wind-chill temperature of 7 degrees, and punting in 14-mph swirls, Masthay had eight punts for a 41.8-yard average, and held Devin Hester to 16 return yards on three punts. Five times he pinned Chicago inside the 20. Masthay has a beautiful backspin on his punts when he wants to make the ball come back to him on the short ones. Every one of his punts either landed inside the 20 or was fielded there. Here's where his eight punts landed: Bears 13, Bears 3, Bears 11, Bears 16, Bears 11, Bears end zone, Bears 10, Bears 18. Brilliant performance."

King's Monday Morning QB

If I recall, didn't Masthay credit the Aussie punter he was competing with for teaching him how to put backspin on the ball? Or make it come back on punts inside the 10? I thought I recall him crediting Bryan for doing that. I doubt he learned it from Slodum!

Again, props to TT for finding this guy!!!

quote:

If I recall, didn't Masthay credit the Aussie punter he was competing with for teaching him how to put backspin on the ball? Or make it come back on punts inside the 10? I thought I recall him crediting Bryan for doing that.

you are correct Fandame. and it's all the rage with all the punters from what I can tell. but to have perfected it to this point that quickly bodes well for the future.

I love it, no longer are we just looking for a good punter, we have a weapon playing punter. Masthay completely negated one of the most dangerous players in the game. Good for him, and the Pack!