GREEN BAY, Wis. — The Packers kicker has missed the most field goals in the NFL through four weeks.
After releasing 2023 draft pick Anders Carlson because he was too inconsistent the majority of last season and this preseason, the Packers claimed undrafted rookie Brayden Narveson off waivers from the Titans. Nothing has changed.
Narveson has made all his extra points, which Carlson couldn’t do, but he’s missed four field goals through four games and a fifth if you count the one negated by a Titans penalty in Week 3. He’ll kick again for the Packers in Week 5 against the Rams, but his leash may get shorter by the week. How can it not?
“Those are critical misses and it’s unacceptable. Hurts,” Narveson said after Sunday’s 31-29 loss against the Vikings in which he missed two field goals. “I’m sure you guys can all see it in my face. It hurts. But I just gotta look myself in the mirror, go back to the drawing board and be better. That’s about all I can say about it … We lost by two and I missed two field goals, right? I gotta own that.”
Narveson is tied for the most field-goal attempts in the NFL with 13, so he at least doesn’t have the worst percentage at 69.2 percent. The Colts’ Matt Gay (60 percent) and the Ravens’ Justin Tucker (62.5) are below him among kickers who have appeared in multiple games. However, two of Tucker’s three misses have come from more than 50 yards, as have both of Gay’s. Narveson hasn’t even attempted a field goal of 50 or more yards.
All of his misses have drifted wide right, too. Late in the third quarter against the Eagles off the right upright from 43 yards with the Packers down five. Late in the fourth quarter against the Colts from 45 yards with the Packers up 13. Midway through the first quarter against the Vikings off the right upright from 37 yards with the Packers down seven. Midway through the second quarter against the Vikings from 49 yards with the Packers down 21.
Even his miss that didn’t officially count as a miss against the Titans drifted wide right from 48 yards with the Packers up 13 early in the third quarter.
Kickers are 115-of-116 on field goals of less than 40 yards this season. Narveson’s miss against the Vikings was the lone exception.
Special teams coordinator Rich Bisaccia said last Thursday that the operation itself has been “really good.” The snap by Matt Orzech and the hold by Daniel Whelan aren’t problems. Bisaccia, who talks to reporters every Thursday, said last week before Narveson’s next two misses, “We’re happy with where he is right now. I think he gets a good line. I think he kicks the ball. We were real excited he came back last week (against the Titans), the (47)-yarder that he hit (after his miss), so his response to something negative kind of is what we’re looking at, as well. And I think he’s done a good job kicking off for us.”
General manager Brian Gutekunst spoke to reporters the day after cutting the roster to 53 and, referring to Carlson, said he’s probably not as patient with specialists as he should be. He mentioned how patient his predecessor Ted Thompson was with former longtime Packers kicker Mason Crosby, who endured rough stretches but emerged on the other side each time. Gutekunst also highlighted punter JK Scott, whom the Packers drafted in the 2018 fifth round and released after three years but has played well for the Chargers since, to make his point. At the same time, Gutekunst basically said he wasn’t willing to let an inconsistent young kicker in Carlson spoil an otherwise exemplary roster.
Was Carlson the only one at fault for the Packers’ shortcomings last season and for the three-point Divisional Round loss against the 49ers in which he missed a 41-yarder in the fourth quarter? No. Just like Narveson isn’t the only reason the Packers lost by two to the Vikings despite leaving six points on the board. But those miscues certainly don’t help and, even if the Packers stick with Narveson for now, it would be organizational malpractice if they don’t have him firmly on the hot seat.
“I’ve got a lot of confidence in Brayden. I do,” head coach Matt LaFleur said postgame Sunday. “I know it’s tough. We all want the results. He’s a young guy and a lot of times with young kickers, you go through this. Certainly, I know he’s disappointed, but I’ve still got a lot of belief in him. I’ve seen it in practice. I told you guys from Day 1, the day he got here, and have seen his abilities. It’s just part of it and, unfortunately, it wasn’t his day, but I’ve got a lot of confidence and won’t blink if we have to put him out there in another situation.
“I get it though, you’ve got to go perform and we expect him to make those kicks as well. We’ve got to make sure that we get that production and make sure that his routine is right and he’s got to be able to self-correct as well. If you miss one, you’ve got to make sure that you don’t make the same mistake twice.”
Will the Packers make the same mistake twice and let a rookie kicker who struggles during the regular season cost them when it matters most? Time will tell.
It’s not like great kickers are just sitting on the street. Those guys already have teams. The Packers have International Player Pathway kicker Alex Hale from Australia on the practice squad and he kicked the last couple of seasons at Oklahoma State. Bisaccia said he’s making strides. Other than that, their best option in terms of talent might be Brandon McManus, whom the NFL determined Monday there wasn’t enough evidence to suspend after two women accused McManus of sexually assaulting them on a Jaguars team flight last season. Veterans Randy Bullock and Riley Patterson are two other notable options.
According to ESPN, the Packers worked out kickers Chad Ryland and Lucas Havrisik on Tuesday. Ryland made 16-of-25 field goals and 24-of-25 extra points as a rookie fourth-round pick of the Patriots last season while appearing in all 17 games and Havrisik, a 2022 undrafted free agent, made 15-of-20 field goals and 19-of-22 extra points in nine games for the Rams last season.
For now, the Packers are sticking with Narveson. If he keeps missing kicks, though, they’ll have no choice but to pull the plug and pray whoever they sign next doesn’t cost them like the last two guys have.
“I care, right? That’s the hardest part,” Narveson said. “You do this every day, seven days a week, 80 hours, whatever it is. You care. Yeah, it’s hard to be positive, but again, I go back to a family. I go back to a life. I have a very good support system around me. I gotta look myself in the mirror again and go back to work this week and do better.”
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(Photo: Johnnie Izquierdo / Getty Images)
