The Green Bay Packers surged at the end of the season and that rally allowed them to make the playoff after struggling throughout the majority of the season. The Packers won their last two regular-season games and that earned them an opportunity to face the Dallas Cowboys in the Wild Card game.
Nobody expected the Packers to beat the Cowboys in Dallas, as the Cowboys had been undefeated at hom in the regular season, and most of their victories were blowouts. That did not intimidate the Packers and they went into Dallas and played their best game of the season. They overpowered the Cowboys 48-32.
There was one troubling aspect to that game for the Packers. Rookie placekicker Anders Carlson missed one of his extra point attempts, and that was part of a trend during the season. He missed 5 extra point attempts during the regular season as well as 6 FG attempts.
A week after the win over the Cowboys, Carlson missed a fourth-quarter field goal that would have extended Green Bay’s lead to 24-17 over the San Francisco 49ers. That would have allowed the game to go to overtime. Instead the Packers lost the divisional playoff game by a 24-21 margin.
Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst said the team would have considered a solid veteran kicker if one been available.
“I think as we got towards the end of the season and we were headed towards the playoffs and had an opportunity to be in the playoffs, certainly something, if there was a veteran option out there that would have been really good, then maybe we would have considered it. But there wasn’t. He was the best option by far. We’re really excited about where he’s going,”
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