The Los Angeles Rams brought in Brett Maher just before the start of the season, making him their primary kicker for 2023. He’s already attempted a league-high 16 field goals this season but he’s only made 12 of them, missing more field goals already this season than Matt Gay (28-for-30) missed in 2022.
While that doesn’t mean he’s been bad this season, his two misses from 46 and 48 yards against the Colts almost proved to be incredibly costly after the Rams let Indianapolis tie the game and send it to overtime.
Even with four misses in four games, Sean McVay said he and Les Snead haven’t talked about making a change at kicker, entrusting that Maher will straighten things out and improve as the season progresses.
“No, that wasn’t part of the dialogue. I was pleased with Brett. Obviously, there were some situations that, hey, those were some big opportunities and some misses. I think you also have to be cognizant and considerate of a lot of the attempts that he’s had, these aren’t short field goals. These are 40-plus or some 50-plus yarders and there’s a lot of layers that go into it. I think he’ll be the first to tell you, he could have struck a couple of those differently but there’s a snap, there’s a hold, there’s a protection. And so, I think everybody wants to always put it on the kicker and it’s not exclusive to that. But Brett’s produced at a high level. I think we’ve put him in some tough situations. He does give us a range that we don’t take for granted and so I think he’ll improve. I do like the fact that that was reflected and we’ve seen that even in the first and the fourth game in particular through the first month. But all those things go into consideration but I have confidence in Brett Maher and that was not part of the discussions as it relates to what I was talking about with Les this morning.”
Maher has a powerful leg and gives the Rams a lot of range when it comes to field goal attempts. He was impressively accurate with the Cowboys last season, too, making 29 of his 32 field goal tries, including a 9-for-11 clip from beyond 50 yards.
He got the yips on PATs in the postseason with Dallas, which ultimately led to his departure, but Maher hasn’t been the Rams’ problem this year. All four of his misses have been from 40-plus, with two coming from at least 50 yards. The Rams have no reason to make a change at kicker right now.