You got the feeling last season that the Packers weren't sure what to expect, so growing pains were allowed.

When Jordan Love and the Packers surged into the playoffs, upset the Cowboys and had the 49ers on the ropes, things changed.

This year, the Packers have high goals and they are not going to accept anything, or anyone, that might compromise those goals.

When Anders Carlson connected on a 54-yard field goal on Saturday in the preseason finale, I thought he had clinched the Packers' kicking job. My thought was the Packers wanted to give him every opportunity to succeed for two reasons.

He had a strong leg and they invested a 6th round draft choice in him.

But when Carlson later missed a 32-yard field goal, all bets were off. There was a reason why Carlson snuck out of the Packers locker room without talking to reporters. He knew he was in trouble. The old doubts and questions were back.

If Anders follows the path of his brother Daniel, he'll end up being a solid kicker somewhere else after being set free by his original team. The Vikings cut Daniel and he later matured with the Raiders.

Anders Carlson missed an NFL-high 13 kicks last season. Some were field goals. Some were extra points. All caused anxiety, especially the missed field goal in the 49ers playoff game.

Carlson was just four of nine last season in the 40-49 yard range. That’s not good enough. In today’s NFL, those need to be close to automatic.

Ironically, I felt better about him on 50 plus yard field goals than shorter ones or extra points.

So, the Packers are moving on. They want to win a Super Bowl. They’re not going to accept the growing pains of a flawed kicker.