It hasn’t exactly been a smooth rookie season for Joshua Karty, the Rams’ first-year kicker. He’s endured the ups-and-downs you expect to see from any kicker, but particularly a player in his first season.
Karty has improved in recent weeks and Sunday’s game against the Seahawks was his best of the year. He made four field goals, two of which were from 57 and 58 yards. On the other side, Jason Meyers was perfect for the Seahawks, too, with his longest kick coming from 56 yards.
It’s hard to believe, but according to the FOX broadcast, this was the first game in NFL history where there were at least three field goals of 55-plus yards.
The fact that Karty made two field goals himself from 55-plus yards is remarkable, especially because his career-long prior to Sunday was 55 yards.
On the year, he’s now 6-for-7 on kicks from at least 50 yards away, an impressive rate for any kicker, let alone a rookie. Hopefully this was the confidence boost he needed heading into the playoffs, giving Sean McVay faith that his kicker can make it from long distance.