INGLEWOOD — Rams head coach Sean McVay tried to head off the questions he knew were coming. The questions that have to be asked about the Rams’ kicking game that, in the wake of a 34-10 win over the New Orleans Saints, still plague a team with championship aspirations.
“It can’t continue like this,” McVay said in his opening statement. “I’m not going to get into blaming anybody specifically. Ultimately, it’s my responsibility. It’s gone on too long, and we’ve got to be able to fix it. … There’s some instances where it’s not getting better, and so we’ve got to be able to figure that out.”
The Rams (6-2) thought they had found some answers after four field goals and extra points were blocked in a span of three weeks early in the season. The protection had gotten stouter and given kicker Josh Karty a chance that he sometimes capitalized on, sometimes didn’t even, as McVay continued to express confidence in the second-year player.
But against the Saints, Karty missed two kicks. The first was a point-after attempt, the second a 39-yard field goal in which the kicker appeared to alter his trajectory in real time to avoid a blocker coming almost untouched off the right side as tackle D.J. Humphries was overwhelmed by rushers to the inside and outside of him.
After the game, McVay again expressed confidence in Karty, who has made 10 of 15 field goals this year and 23 of 26 extra points.
“I think naturally the narrative shifts towards the kicker, and that might not always be the case,” the coach said. “There are some instances that I could go in-depth of what occurred, but that doesn’t move us forward in the right way. Ultimately, I gotta be able to figure out collectively with our coaches, alright, let’s address the issues, let’s see what the possible solutions are and then where we go from there.”
But for a team hoping to make another deep playoff run, special teams cannot be a liability. And the Rams’ two losses this season can both be traced back to blocked field goals and PATs.
“It’s going to cost us. It’s cost us already,” McVay said. “The harsh and the truth of it is this is not sustainable to continuously go where we want to go, and that’s really just trying to be able to go get our seventh win against an excellent football team. And we’re fortunate that we’ve gotten away with it but it has cost us throughout the season and that’s something that you can’t run away from.”
Nacua not expected to miss time
Rams wide receiver Puka Nacua left the game in the third quarter with a rib injury when he took a handoff on a jet sweep to pick up a first down in the red zone before colliding with Saints linebacker Demario Davis.
“The guy 56 on the other side, we were coming up on our contact point and he definitely weighs heavier than I do,” Nacua said, chuckling dryly. “I’m gonna enjoy getting some sleep tonight for sure.”
Nacua said he told the coaching staff he could have returned to the game if called upon, and said he would be ready to play next weekend against the San Francisco 49ers.
“He could have come back in the game, but we kind of had command. Felt like it was the smart thing,” McVay said.