GREEN BAY, Wis. – Like so many other playoff losses over the years, the Green Bay Packers pulled defeat out of the jaws of victory in losing to the San Francisco 49ers 24-21 on Saturday night.
Wasted opportunities in the red zone by the offense, dropped interceptions by the defense and a missed field goal conspired to keep Green Bay out of the NFC Championship Game.
In the second game of his career in 2018, fifth-round pick Daniel Carlson went 0-for-3 on field goals in Minnesota’s 29-29 tie at Lambeau Field. The Vikings released him the next day.
That was stupid. Impatience gets you nowhere in life.
The Packers selected Anders Carlson with a sixth-round pick in 2023. From the start, they made it clear they were going to stick with him for the long haul. And why not? Expectations were low for the team. As was the case with Jordan Love replacing Aaron Rodgers, this season was about Carlson replacing Mason Crosby and reassessing after the season.
The Packers showed extraordinary patience with Carlson, which would have been understandable if the team’s 3-6 start had wound up with a final record of 7-10. But the Packers got hot and reached the playoffs. You sort of knew Carlson’s miss-per-game habit would come back to bite them, no different than you knew the special teams would keep the team from winning the Super Bowl in 2021.
