Carlson’s Overworked Foot Helps Raiders, Hides Offensive Inefficiency

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Daniel Carlson appears automatic from inside of forty-five yards. However, his success masks the red zone failure that plagues the Raiders.

While analysts and fans gush over the Las Vegas Raiders’ new, star-studded offense, many tend to overlook one of the team’s most reliable players. In the 2021 season, kicker Daniel Carlson was the only player to make 40 field goals, which he did at a 93 percent rate (T-3^rd in NFL). Additionally, Carlson recorded two games with five field goals made. The Raiders are lucky and yet still concerned about scoring.

Clutch Kicks

Strangely enough, the two games Carlson accomplished this feat were two of the most electric games of the Raiders’ season: Thanksgiving against the Dallas Cowboys (W, 36-33) and the final game of the season against the Los Angeles Chargers (W, 35-32), revealing the arctic-chilled water running through his veins. Derek Carr gets, and deserves, a significant amount of credit for leading the Raiders to six walk-off victories, but five of the final blows came off Carlson’s foot, following Carr’s last-second drive. In addition to his two games of five field goals recorded and five walk-off kicks, Carlson logged double-digit points in nine games (including playoffs), in which the Raiders went 7-2.

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The Downside To Success

Although Carlson could make a real case for the 2021 Raiders MVP, his high level of usage is a bit concerning. Should all his field goals be 40+ yards, this could be quite beneficial to the Raiders, but a good amount of his kicks came from within the red zone, highlighting glaring issues within the team’s offense. Scoring on as many possessions possible is always the goal, but trudging all the way through the opponent’s territory to settle for three points while just outside the promised land can not only keep opponents in games, but it also tends to dampen the offense’s morale.

Stats Kinda Lie

Plain and simple, leading the league in field goals made does not equal team success, it just measures the skill of the kicker and the offense’s ability to get inside the other team’s forty-yard line. For example, Evan McPherson of the AFC Champion Cincinnati Bengals made twenty-eight field goals last season and was most likely not called upon more due to his team’s efficient red zone offense. While it seems strange to ask less of a kicker, it would be nice to see Carlson hovering around McPherson’s twenty-eight, if it means the Raiders have increased success in the red zone.

Bottom Line

Even though Carlson led the NFL in field goals made, he ranked nineteenth in made extra points. These numbers could be skewed had the Raiders been particularly aggressive in calling two-point conversions, but this was not the case. Combining all the stats proves two things: Daniel Carlson is and will continue to be an elite kicker, and the Raiders must get more efficient in the red zone.