The Los Angeles Rams made the decision to move on from kicker Brett Maher on Tuesday, cutting the veteran after only seven games. Maher leads the NFL in field goals made with 17, but he’s also missed six field goals and an extra point – including two field goals and a PAT in Sunday’s loss alone.
Sean McVay said after the game that Maher has “got to be better,” but the Rams aren’t giving him another chance to prove himself after going 17-for-23 in seven games. Instead, they’re bringing in Lucas Havrisik, a kicker with no regular-season experience and a 64% make rate in college at Arizona.
It’s hard to say the Rams gave up on Maher too early because he has been a bit up-and-down, but McVay is partly to blame for his underwhelming numbers. Of Maher’s six misses, four came from beyond 50 yards. A 53-yarder hit the upright, a 57-yarder was blocked by the Seahawks, a 56-yarder came as a last-second prayer before halftime and the 51-yarder was just badly missed left.
All teams have to settle for long field goals throughout the season, but McVay’s conservative decisions on third and fourth down have hurt the Rams and put Maher in difficult spots. It’s why the Rams have attempted a league-high 23 field goals this season.
According to Ben Baldwin, the Rams have lost the fourth-most win percentage points by kicking field goals in fourth-down situations where the analytics call for them to go for it.
Zac Taylor lol pic.twitter.com/lcuK6ht5gt
— Computer Cowboy (@benbbaldwin) October 24, 2023
In other words, the Rams are settling for field goals when they should be trying to convert on fourth down. And if you look at Maher’s 23 field goal attempts, eight of them have come on fourth-and-5 or less. Obviously, the Rams aren’t going to go for it in all of those situations, but McVay has been conservative to a fault on fourth down.
His third-down play calling before attempting long field goals can be questioned, too. On Sunday, he called a run play to Royce Freeman on third-and-5 from the Steelers’ 35-yard line. It gained 1 yard and the Rams settled for a 53-yarder, which Maher missed.
McVay all but admitted it was a bad decision when talking about Maher’s performance this week.
“There’s some long attempts. We got to make the extra point. It’s a good protection and it’s something that he’s done really consistently, but I do think you want to understand the fact that a lot of these misses are in the 50-plus range, which, that’s a challenging kick,” McVay said on the “Coach McVay Show” Monday. “I don’t care whether you’re Brett Maher or the Matt Gays of the world. You look at everything and it’s not just exclusive to that kick. That’s where you kick yourself for some of those situations that lead up to it. Well, what could we have done on the third-down-and-5 when we have the first 53-yarder? Just, ah man. It’s one of those deals that you go back to work, you apply the lessons you learn and you don’t let the Steelers disappointment beat you twice as you start to prepare for the Cowboys.”
Another questionable call came back in Week 1 against the Seahawks. The Rams were in a third-and-7 situation at the Seahawks’ 38-yard line, and Matthew Stafford threw a deep shot to Tutu Atwell, which fell incomplete.
Had McVay called a higher-percentage play that could’ve picked up 5, 6, or even 7 yards, the Rams wouldn’t have had to settle for a 57-yarder, which you simply can’t expect your kicker to make more often than not.
Against the Colts in Week 4, the Rams had second-and-11 from Indianapolis’ 35-yard line. They picked up 7 yards on a screen to Puka Nacua, who was tackled at the 28 with 20 seconds left. McVay waited to take his final timeout with 4 seconds left, opting not to take his timeout immediately and trying to pick up more yards to make the field goal easier.
Granted, it was only a 46-yarder, which Maher should’ve made, but McVay wasn’t exactly aggressive in that situation. He could’ve gotten in at least one more sideline shot, even with no timeouts remaining.
Maher deserves plenty of blame for his misses, especially the PAT on Sunday. He was part of the reason they lost to the Steelers. But McVay has also been too conservative on third and fourth down in some scenarios, leading to a lot of drives ending in field goals – make or miss.
McVay is someone who often says he looks inward first, and perhaps he needs to consider being more aggressive when the Rams are between the opponent’s 30- and 40-yard line. That’s where he often plays it too safe.