As much as Rich Bisaccia doesn’t want to talk about it – and he sure as heck doesn’t want to talk about it – the Green Bay Packers have a kicker problem entering Saturday’s NFC Divisional playoff game at the San Francisco 49ers.
No kicker in the NFL has missed more kicks than Packers rookie Anders Carlson. Including the missed extra point at Dallas on Sunday, he’s missed a kick in each of his last four games and nine of his last 11.
Bisaccia is weary of the weekly questions about the kicker he helped pick to replace Mason Crosby. He had no desire to provide any answers to reporters on Wednesday – and hasn’t for weeks – just as he’s had no answers in getting his talented kicker to consistently split the uprights.
“We’re onto the next game in San Francisco,” an agitated Bisaccia said after practice. “And whatever happened in the last game happened, we’ve looked at it, hopefully corrected it, and we’re moving forward. Any questions about the 49er game would be great.”
There’s no question who will be Green Bay’s kicker against the 49ers. It will be Carlson – despite his consistent inconsistency – rather than a veteran.
“We’ve got a lot of confidence in him,” coach Matt LaFleur said. “Yeah, you’d like him to make every kick, no doubt about it, but I think it’s part of the growth process. A lot of young [players], especially kickers, go through some trials and tribulations, unfortunately.
“The one thing that’s been so great that you cannot coach is just the resiliency he’s shown because every time he misses one, he comes back and he’s made them. We’d like to get through it without any hiccups but, again, I think it’s part of the process. He’s still learning how to refine his game and there’s still a lot more out there, obviously.”
LaFleur is mostly right about that. Carlson has missed a league-high 12 kicks this year. He missed two kicks in the back-to-back victories over the Chargers and Lions; the one against Detroit was a 63-yarder. Otherwise, he’s limited the one bad kick to one bad kick.
Still, that one bad kick could be the difference between a trip to the NFC Championship Game or a season-ending loss.
In the midseason loss at Pittsburgh, Carlson had an extra point blocked, so the Packers trailed 17-13 at halftime rather than 17-14. Thus, on their final two drives of the game, the Packers needed a touchdown to win rather than a field goal to force overtime. Who knows how those drives might have played out under those circumstances, but Jordan Love led both possessions into the red zone before throwing interceptions.
While it makes sense to simply not give up on Carlson, the patience could come at the biggest price imaginable.
“Yeah, absolutely,” LaFleur said. “But we’re committed to him and we’re going to see this thing through with him.”
The Packers will have an open roster spot once they place Kingsley Enagbare on injured reserve, so they could easily keep two kickers on the roster.
Crosby, if you were wondering, ended the season on the Giants’ practice squad. That contract expired on Sunday. The Packers could sign him, or any other veteran kicker, to the practice squad and elevate him to the gameday roster.
But that’s not the plan. The Packers are going to sink or swim with Carlson. Of 31 kickers who attempted at least 20 field goals in the regular season, he finished 23rd (27-of-33; 81.8 percent); of 30 kickers who attempted at least 20 extra points, he ranked 28th (34-of-39; 87.2 percent).
For what it’s worth, 49ers rookie kicker Jake Moody, a third-round pick, finished 19th on field goals (21-of-25; 84.0 percent) and ninth on extra points (60-of-61; 98.4 percent).
“I have a tremendous amount of confidence in Anders,” Bisaccia said, “as well as our punter, as well as our snapper, as well as the guys that line up on the punt team, the kickoff team, kickoff return team, and on and on and on. Or else they wouldn’t be playing.”
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