Packers rue missed chances vs. Niners, including Carlson kick - ESPN

Anders Carlson desperately wanted another shot, but a Jordan Love interception on the final drive of Saturday night's loss to thehost San Francisco 49ers in the NFC divisional round meant the Green Bay Packers kicker would have a 41-yard missed field goal in the fourth quarter to think about as he enters the offseason.

Had it gone through the uprights, the kick would have given the Packers a seven-point lead with 6:18 left — and Christian McCaffrey's subsequent touchdown for San Francisco with 1:07 to play would have only tied the score at 24.

Instead, it was enough for the 49ers to pull out a 24-21 victory at a rain-soaked Levi's Stadium that ended the Packers' season in Santa Clara, California.

«I felt like we had plenty of opportunities to kind of put the game out of reach and unfortunately just didn't do enough,» Packers coach Matt LaFleur said. «And it's never one play, 'cause I'm sure a lot of it's going to come down to the missed field goal, but there were plenty of opportunities. You can go back in the first half and have three red zone opportunities and have six points. There's a lot of plays out there that it just, if one plays goes different, then probably have a different result right now.»

The results for Carlson, a rookie out of Auburn, often had been the same. It was his 13th missed kick (field goal or extra point) this campaign, including the playoffs. That was the most in the NFL and three more misses than any other kicker this season.

For a moment, it looked like Carlson might get a shot to tie the score late. The Packers picked up one first down and needed about 20 to 25 more yards to get into range for Carlson when Love threw his second interception of the game on a deep throw across the field that