Friday’s preseason win over the Cincinnati Bengals started great but finished poorly for Green Bay Packers rookie kicker Anders Carlson.
Carlson began the night at Paycor Stadium in Cincinnati by making his first three extra point attempts and a 45-yard field goal right down the middle during the third quarter. Unfortunately, the rookie spiraled when his final two extra points sailed wide right.
Missing back-to-back extra points as an NFL kicker is inexcusable and was a step back from Carlson’s outing at Family Night, where he finished 8-of-9 in front of a large crowd at Lambeau Field. The sixth-round pick out of Auburn even made three straight field goals from over 50 yards.
Leg strength hasn’t been an issue for Carlson. Instead, it’s been about accuracy, as his misses throughout training camp have been far too frequent. Now those concerns spilled over into the preseason, though Matt LaFleur wasn’t ready to panic during his postgame press conference.
“I don’t want to look too far into it. It’s one game,” said LaFleur. “As long as you learn from it and get better and make the necessary adjustments, then a lot of times you come back stronger from it.”
It’s worth noting that Friday night in Cincinnati was Carlson’s first live-game experience at the NFL level. He finished 4-of-6 on kicks overall.
The Packers have been patient with Carlson, who currently has no competition on the roster. However, his latest struggles may be a sign that it’s time to bring in someone else considering the team can’t afford to have an unstable kicker in 2023.
