In a 17-game season, losses are never fun. Losses within the division, however, are the worst of them all.
The Green Bay Packers suffered one of those losses on Sunday, as they had their teeth kicked in by the Minnesota Vikings right from the jump. A furious second-half comeback attempt fell short, and the Packers fell to 2-2, two games back of the undefeated Vikings.
Some things are guaranteed to haunt you in the NFL, and missed kicks are one of them. The Packers have had far too many of those already this season, and that may end up having consequences for the guilty party.
Brayden Narveson, who was signed at the last minute to replace 2023 starter Anders Carlson, has been dreadful through four games. Insider Matt Schneidman of The Athletic speculated Monday that Narveson could be cut if the Packers are already fed up with his misses.
"The Packers might need a new kicker. Undrafted rookie Brayden Narveson has missed four field goals in his first four games, and that doesn’t even count the 48-yarder he missed last Sunday that was negated because of a Titans penalty," Schneidman said.
"The Packers might want to exercise more patience with Narveson, especially since they just pulled the plug on kicker Anders Carlson (whom they drafted last year), but their patience has to be running thin."
Narveson is tied for the league lead in field goal attempts thus far with 13, so it's clear the Packers will need to depend on their kicker all season. And he's yet to attempt a kick of 50-plus yards, so every kick he's missed has been one an NFL kicker expects to make.
In 2023, Narveson went 18-for-23 on field goal attempts at NC State, with a long of 57. Those stats don't necessarily scream "NFL kicker," but it's clear the Packers saw something in the preseason that they liked.
Now, that's out the window. Narveson may get another week or two to prove he belongs if he's lucky. But in this bottom-line business, first impressions are lasting ones, and Narveson has already committed some pretty serious faux pas.
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