No team has gone through more kicking struggles than the Los Angeles Rams this year. Between Brett Maher and Lucas Havrisik, they’ve missed 11 total field goal attempts, the most by any team in a season since 2015.
Havrisik is just 2-for-6 from 40-49 yards, which is a critical range, especially when it comes to deciding whether the offense might stay on the field on fourth down in hopes of scoring a touchdown instead of settling for three points.
That came into play for the Rams on Thursday night against the Saints. On fourth-and-2 from the Saints’ 28-yard line, McVay settled for a field goal attempt from 47 yards. Havrisik missed it wide right, which would’ve given the Rams a 13-0 lead.
Three plays after that miss, the Saints were in the end zone with a 45-yard touchdown, making it a 10-7 game. McVay admitted Friday that the Rams’ kicking struggles can impact his play calling and decisions on third and fourth down, knowing those field goal attempts aren’t automatic like the were with Greg Zuerlein and Matt Gay.
“It does. It’s something that – I was talking about it and there were some opportunities that you have to be considerate of. All right, are you operating in four down territory? Maybe different than what you had in previous situations,” he said. “So I think you have to continue to monitor the ability to execute at a high level and if not, then maybe you’re saying, hey, we’re operating with a different mode and mindset. And so those are things that we’ll definitely have to identify and especially when every single game matters so much and points are at a premium and you’d like to be able to finish these drives where you’re just hopefully kicking extra points. But it certainly is something that comes into the thought process, especially given the things that you mentioned.”
When the Rams face the Giants on New Year’s Eve, don’t be surprised if McVay is more aggressive on fourth-and-short, keeping the offense on the field instead of settling for a field goal attempt.
He indicated that a change at kicker isn’t in the cards right now, and the team is looking more at the entire kicking operation, from the snap to the hold to the kick. Havrisik’s leash shouldn’t be too long but at the very least, it seems he’ll still be the kicker next weekend in New York.
He needs a strong performance to maintain his job in Los Angeles because with the postseason approaching, the Rams can’t afford to keep missing field goal attempts.