Even the Buffalo Bills will tell you this (twice). You don’t lose playoff games because of one missed kick. Heartbreaking postseason defeat is usually a matter of several mistakes compounding on one another.
This also applies to the Green Bay Packers, who fell just short of an NFC title game appearance partly because of an Anders Carlson missed kick. After the loss, a quote from Fox’s Tom Rinaldi about how Matt LaFleur “prays” every time Carlson lines up for a kick went viral. Carlson had the NFL’s 24th-best kicking percentage this season and was not usually someone the Packers could rely on.
But even still, the way everyone ran with LaFleur’s quote about Carlson irked the Packers head coach. Because according to LaFleur, that’s not what he meant about his kicker:
Matt LaFleur is not happy with Tom Rinaldi: “That was extremely disappointing that that’s how that message got portrayed. I’ve been a part of production meetings ever since I became a coordinator and I’ve never had an experience like that.”
LaFleur talked to Carlson about it. pic.twitter.com/fDYqp4GKUp
— Matt Schneidman (@mattschneidman) January 22, 2024
As LaFleur explained, he meant “praying” in the sense that Carlson’s kick attempts are always out of his control, not that he didn’t have faith in his player. I’m inclined to believe this explanation because the easy conclusion from the Fox report would’ve been to pile on an athlete for making a massive mistake in a big game and running with it. Without full context, it’s irresponsible for anyone to assert LaFleur didn’t believe in one of his players. Coaches talking trash about their players publicly is a rare exception, not the norm.
Good for LaFleur for stepping to the microphone and quashing this unwarranted controversy.