Green Bay Place kicker Anders Karlsson (17) looks at a missed field goal during the second half ,
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Former Green Bay Packers general manager Ted Thompson used to refer to the NFL as the “Big Boy League”.
The Packers have acted as if they were a minor league team in recent weeks when it came to kicker Anders Karlsson.
Carlson, a rookie from Auburn, was the NFL’s most unreliable kicker this season. As Green Bay’s surprising season continued, it had every opportunity to replace Carlson with a veteran.
Instead, the Packers decided to stick with Carlson and the results were predictable.
With Green Bay clinging to a 21-17 lead over heavily favored San Francisco in the NFC divisional playoffs on Saturday night, Carlson sent a 41-yard field goal wide left. The 49ers then drove 69 yards and won the game when Christian McCaffrey broke a 6-yard touchdown run with 1:07 remaining.
Carlsen has missed at least one kick in his last five games and 10 of his last 12 contests. Afterwards, Packers coach Matt LaFleur had no answers for Carlson’s struggles throughout the season.
“I think if we had an answer we would fix it, OK,” LaFleur said. “So, consistency definitely has to be worked on. We have seen him do this. We know what he is capable of, but to survive in this league you have to perform consistently.”
There were many reasons why the Packers lost to the 49ers for the fifth consecutive time in the postseason.
Darnell Savage dropped a sure-fire, pick-six early in the contest. Jordan Love threw two very costly interceptions in the final 17 minutes. And Green Bay’s three trips into the red zone in the first half yielded just six points.
But Carlson’s problem could have been fixed a few weeks earlier — and even the week before the San Francisco game. But the Packers buried their collective heads in the sand and somehow expected the problem to disappear.
It did not happen.
Green Bay special teams coordinator Rich Biascia didn’t want to talk about Carlson’s troubles last week.
“We’re in the next game in San Francisco,” Bisaccia said on January 17. “And whatever happened in the last game, we’ve looked at it, hopefully fixed it, and we’re moving forward.”
LaFleur said the Packers are not considering replacing Carlson.
“We’re committed to him,” Packers coach Matt LaFleur said adamantly. “And we’re going to look at this thing.”
The real question is why?
Kicker is one of the few positions in football where you can find a veteran down the road at the end of the year who can make your team better.
Mason Crosby, the leading scorer in Green Bay history, had his contract with the New York Giants expired on January 14. Robbie Gould, an all-time Packer killer, announced his retirement on December 7, but he may have been lured back into the game in pursuit of his first Super Bowl ring.
Instead, Green Bay put double the money on a player who missed 13 kicks in 2023 — more than anyone in football.
Carlsen finished 23rdthird Field goal percentage during the regular season in the league became 27 of 33 (81.8%). He then went 2-of-3 in the postseason and finished the year 29-of-36 (80.6%).
Carlsen is also in 29th placeth in extra point percentage during the regular season, going 34 of 39 (87.2%). He then made 7 of 8 extra points in the playoffs and finished the season on 41 of 47 extra points (87.2%).
No other kicker in football has missed more than three extra points.
“I have a lot of confidence in Anders,” Biascia, the NFL’s highest-paid special teams coordinator, declared last week.
Then, the question was why?
Carlson, a sixth-round draft pick out of Auburn last April, was remarkably inconsistent as a collegian before coming to Green Bay.
Carlson made only 71.8% (79 of 110) of his field goals at Auburn. He went 5 of 17 from more than 50 yards (29.4%) and 25 of 39 from 40 to 49 yards (64.1%).
Carlson has a cannon for a foot and a steady demeanor – two qualities the Packers liked. But he was as inconsistent as an Internet connection during his college and rookie seasons in the 1990s.
Green Bay moved cheaply at kicker, punter and several other positions this season in an attempt to get its financial house in order in what most believed would be a rebuilding season.
However, when the Packers reached the divisional playoffs, it was up to the other 52 people on the team to fix a problem that could have been easily fixed.
Instead, they ignored it, which is a big reason why their year is now over.
