Raiders kicker waits for shot at redemption after rare off game

Carlson, thanks to a fumbled snap, is still waiting. A miscommunication between quarterback Aidan O’Connell and rookie center Jackson Powers-Johnson sealed a 19-17 loss to the Chiefs, even though the Raiders were well within Carlson’s range.

“Once the next one goes well, you can move on,” Carlson said this week.

His struggles in Kansas City could have become just a footnote in an alternate universe. Carlson would have had the chance to end the Raiders’ losing streak.

Instead, he’s just had time to think about what went wrong. It’s not the first time he’s been through something like this in his stellar career. And it won’t be the longest he’s had to wait for another chance.

Carlson, 29, at least has enough experience now to come up with solutions.

What happened?

Several factors determine whether each kick is made or missed.

There’s the snap, the hold, the protection, the weather and even just the strike of the ball. A miss can be caused by one thing or a combination of different ones.

The key for a kicker is to trust the operation and all the reps they’ve put in over the years.

Carlson didn’t do that against the Chiefs.

He made his first kick, a 27-yard field goal 3:57 into the second quarter. He trotted out for a 56-yard attempt 5:03 later. The kick left his foot and was headed straight between the goal posts, but it surprisingly came up short.

Carlson looked stunned. He has a huge leg and he felt the distance wouldn’t be a major issue. Color commentator Kirk Herbstreit even said on the broadcast Carlson had no issues from that far back during warmups.

But during the game, he came up short. That’s where his problems began.

Overthinking

Carlson has been kicking long enough to know he just needs to get back to his routine after a miss.

He couldn’t do that in Kansas City.

“You try to separate each kick as much as possible,” Carlson said. “The last kick shouldn’t affect the next one, but unfortunately that’s a lot of what I did.

“It was the first (time) I’ve ever left (a kick) short in my career and so I think I stashed that away thinking if I get another long one, I have to kick it harder. Sure enough, I got two more long ones and it’s one of those things where I’m trying to kick one that’s not my own ball.”

Carlson tried to put more power on his next kick, a 55-yard attempt in the third quarter. He was thinking of his own miss and one by Chiefs kicker Matthew Wright just before halftime. Wright was short on a 59-yard try.

The extra leg swing pulled Carlson’s kick to the left. His first miss had led to another.

He then had a 58-yard attempt in the fourth quarter and appeared to try to kick the ball so hard he struck the ground. It went immediately off course.

“In hindsight, I would have rather just kicked my kick three times and if they’re short, at least they’re in the middle and short,” Carlson said. “Be stubborn about it. But that was the first time I ever left a kick short and I think it’s a learning experience for me in terms of the ball isn’t traveling well, it’s cold, how do I handle it? So you have to learn and move forward.

“It sucks when you don’t and it sucks when you lose a game, but I’m looking forward to Tampa and ready to make kicks and help the team get a win.”

Back to basics

Carlson has been one of the NFL’s most accurate kickers since joining the Raiders, but he’s been through trying times before.

He still thinks about the 2015 Outback Bowl when he was a freshman at Auburn. He missed a potential game-tying, 45-yard field goal in overtime, giving the win to Wisconsin.

Carlson had to sit around for an entire offseason waiting to erase that memory.

“That’s the worst feeling,” he said. “You want to practice, but you’re just thinking you want to help the team and you don’t get another chance. You only get so many opportunities, so you want to make sure to take advantage of those chances.”

Carlson had a rocky start to his NFL career as well.

He was picked by the Vikings in the fifth round of the 2018 draft but only appeared in two games for the team. He was released after going 0-for-3 in Minnesota’s 29-29 tie with the Packers on Sept. 16, 2018.

Carlson waited around for more than a month before the Raiders signed him. He’s flourished since, making 191 of his 216 kicks (88.4 percent) after switching teams.

The nine days between the Chiefs game and the Raiders’ matchup with the Buccaneers on Sunday doesn’t feel so bad compared to his previous experiences.

“When you have a little success and experience, it helps to be able to look back and know you’ve done it before and you can do it again,” Carlson said. “As a rookie, it’s like, ‘Maybe I’m not cut out for this.’

“That’s just part of learning. Not that I handled it poorly, but you learn how to deal with adversity. You’re a little more mature and you see there’s light at the end of the tunnel. There’s another game to get ready for. Back then, you’re wondering if it’s your last chance. But it all worked out for me.”

It also helps that Carlson has a routine now.

He makes countless kicks every day in practice, and he’s worked long enough with holder AJ Cole and long snapper Jacob Bobenmoyer to know the misses are an outlier.

His teammates and coaches know that, too.

“We’ve got another opportunity this week and I’m going to go out there and throw him out there again,” coach Antonio Pierce said. “There’s a lot of trust. Every Friday we have guys yell at him, we do all this stuff to make it competitive and get underneath his skin, and he doesn’t flinch.

“He’s made some big kicks here as a Raider and that’ll continue. So, one game is not going to define him or us.”

Back at it

Carlson appreciates the support, but he said the words mean nothing if he doesn’t make his next kick.

And the one after that. And so on.

He knows he can get it done.

“I don’t wake up in the morning exuding confidence,” Carlson said. “I have to work at it in practice and convince myself of that and then I can bring it to the game because each and every day, I have to prove to myself, my teammates and my coaches that I deserve to be here. I’m one of the best kickers in the league and I’m going to bring that to game day. But every day you have to earn it and that’s the beauty of this league.”

Carlson believes he would have made the game-winning field goal against the Chiefs if he had the chance. But the world will never know if that’s the case.

He didn’t even see the fumble. Carlson was off to the side with Cole planning for the upcoming kick that never happened.

His preparation remained the same even during one of the toughest days of his career. And it won’t change Sunday, either.

Contact Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AdamHillLVRJ on X.