McVay Wants Rams Kicking Unit Reviewed After Blocked Kick in Overtime Loss to Bills

Rams Kicking Unit Under Review After Overtime Loss to the Bills

After the Rams missed one field goal and had another blocked in Monday night's 37-34 overtime loss to Buffalo, coach Sean McVay said Los Angeles will evaluate everything about the kicking unit, per ESPN. Kicker Harrison Mevis missed a 50-yarder wide left in the first quarter, then had a 48-yard attempt blocked in overtime that would have won the game.

Not even close to good enough.

ESPN Research counts three blocked field goal attempts for the Rams since the start of last season, tied for the most in the league, and 81 missed or blocked kicks under McVay since 2017, third most. McVay also took blame for the preceding play: after Kyren Williams was stopped for no gain on third-and-5 from the Buffalo 30, he said he wished he had a better call to go for it on fourth down. Matthew Stafford threw for 383 yards and three touchdowns, and the Rams fell to 2-3, third in the NFC West behind San Francisco (5-0) and Seattle (3-2).

Rams vs. Cardinals Odds: What the Market Did

Los Angeles hosts Arizona next Sunday. DraftKings lists the Rams as 13.5-point favorites, per ESPN's odds feed as of October 13 at 9:10 AM ET.

The feed does not say why a line moved, so the rest of this piece is our reading and not a reported cause.

Our Read: Is a Kicking Problem a Roster Problem or a Bad Night?

• Blocks are partly luck, misses are not. A block can come from protection, snap-to-kick timing or plain bad luck. A miss from 50 is a different matter, so we would separate the two before calling this a trend.
• The cost was a coaching decision as much as a kick. McVay's own admission about third down suggests the game turned on a choice to settle for a 48-yarder, not only on the block.
• The market shrugged. The spread held at 13.5 and the Rams moneyline got shorter, which is consistent with bettors pricing Stafford's output and not one special teams night. That is inference, not a stated reason.
• The evidence points both ways. The 81-kick career figure under McVay is long-running, but it covers nine seasons, and a 2-3 team scoring 34 is not short of offense.

We read this as a fixable weakness that still has consequences in a tight division race, not as a collapse.

What to Watch for the Rams This Week

• Whether Los Angeles changes kickers or protection before facing Arizona.
• How aggressive McVay is on fourth down in field goal range.
• Whether the total of 52.5 keeps climbing as Stafford's passing numbers get priced in.
• The gap to the 5-0 49ers, whom Los Angeles trails in the NFC West.

Convert any NFL moneyline to implied probability in our odds guide

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