Tag: lucas havrisik

Rams K Lucas Havrisik thought he made PAT, not game-winning FG vs. Seahawks

“I was so blanked out that I thought we actually scored and I hit a PAT”

Rams kicker Lucas Havrisik isn’t technically a rookie, but he has very little NFL experience. Sunday against the Seahawks was only his third career regular-season game and he had only attempted four field goals before the game-winner in the fourth quarter.

It was just a chip shot from 22 yards out, so there wasn’t much pressure on him to make it. But he still delivered and gave the Rams a 17-16 lead with about a minute to play, which went on to be the final score.

Havrisik was so focused on the sideline late in that drive that he didn’t even realize he was coming onto the field to attempt a game-winning field goal. He thought the Rams scored a touchdown and he was coming in to make the PAT.

It wasn’t until he saw the score was 17-16 that he knew he just made a field goal to give the Rams the lead.

“We got the first touchdown and we were only down, I think, 7-13, at that time, so I realize it’s going to be a closer game,” he said after the game. “You just have to be prepared for all those times. Games pan out in a weird way. Like, I was so blanked out that I thought we actually scored and I hit a PAT. I looked at the score and I was like, ‘Oh, dang, we’re only up one, so they only need a field goal.’ That’s how, like, blurred out I’d be. And I was like, ‘Oh, crap.’”

So far this season, Havrisik has made 4 of 5 field goal attempts and both PATs, though he hasn’t exactly been tested from distance. He went 1-for-2 from 40-49 yards and made his only attempts beyond 50 yards, a 52-yarder against the Packers.

So far, so good for the 24-year-old Riverside native.

Rams sweep Seahawks as Jason Myers misses from 55

The Rams thwarted a last-gasp drive by the Seahawks to earn a series sweep

A great story fell apart on the last play of the game as Jason Myers missed a 55-yard field goal attempt that would have given the Seahawks victory over the Rams.

Instead, LA wound up with a season sweep, 17-16, ruining an injured Geno Smith leading drive that set up the field-goal attempt.

Smith had been knocked out of the game with an injury to his throwing elbow after taking a massive hit.

Drew Lock came on and the Seattle offense stalled.

The Rams overcame a 13-0 deficit and scored 10 unanswered points in the fourth quarter.

The difference in the game was a Lucas Havrisik field goal from 22 yards that capped a 14-play, 75-yard drive with 1:31 left.

Myers had hit 15 field goals in a row before the miss from long range.

Lucas Havrisik was Rams’ only bright spot in awful special teams performance

The Rams had a dreadful day on special teams, but new kicker Lucas Havrisik was the lone bright spot in that department

It’s been a frustrating year for the Rams’ special teams unit. There have been lapses in kick coverage, missed field goals and a severe lack of big plays made in the return game. Brett Maher drew a lot of criticism for his missed kicks this season but wasn’t the only issue with Chase Blackburn’s unit.

A lot of those problems were on display Sunday in the Rams’ 43-20 loss to the Cowboys. Ironically, it was the kicker, Lucas Havrisik, who was the only bright spot on special teams for Los Angeles.

The second-year kicker made his NFL debut and drilled field goals of 47 and 33 yards. He didn’t attempt a PAT because the Rams went for two twice, but he did show off a strong leg on the 47-yarder by booting it high up the net on a kick that may have been good from 60-plus.

Everything else about the special teams performance was downright terrible. Early in the second quarter, Ethan Evans’ punt was blocked and went out of the end zone for a safety, padding the Cowboys’ lead to 19-3.

On the very next play, the punt following the safety, KaVontae Turpin returned it 63 yards to the Rams’ 13-yard line. Two plays later, the Cowboys were in the end zone with a 10-yard touchdown by CeeDee Lamb, giving them a 26-3 lead.

In the fourth quarter, Evans had his best punt of the game, a 58-yarder, which was returned 87 yards for a touchdown by Turpin. Fortunately for the Rams, Dallas was called for holding so the touchdown didn’t count, but it was another lapse in coverage by Los Angeles.

In addition to having one punt blocked, Evans’ other kicks went for 48 yards to the Dallas 20, 40 yards to the Dallas 37 and 37 yards to the 50. Those are not the types of punts we’re used to seeing from the rookie.

It was an all-around dreadful day from the special teams unit, with the exception of their new kicker Havrisik. But his two field goals weren’t enough to overcome a long return and a blocked punt.

Lucas Havrisik will be Rams’ kicker vs. Cowboys, making his NFL debut

Sean McVay confirmed Lucas Havrisik will be the Rams’ kicker on Sunday in what will be his regular-season debut in the NFL

After cutting Brett Maher this week, the Los Angeles Rams signed Lucas Havrisik off the Browns’ practice squad. They then worked out five kickers, including Mason Crosby, but they have yet to sign anyone to compete with Havrisik.

For the time being, the Rams are rolling with the former Colts and Browns kicker.

Sean McVay said Havrisik will be their kicker on Sunday against the Cowboys, which will be his NFL debut. He’s kicked in preseason games before, but this will be the first time he plays a regular-season contest as a pro.

McVay expressed confidence in the second-year player, saying “he’ll be ready to go” for Sunday’s game.

“He’s done a good job. He did a nice job yesterday,” McVay said.

Havrisik went 2-for-2 in the preseason but he did miss one extra-point attempt with the Colts. He was then cut by Indianapolis and landed on the Browns’ practice squad before the Rams signed him to their active roster this week.

Los Angeles hopes this will be an upgrade after Maher missed seven kicks (six FGs, one PAT) in seven games this season.

Sean McVay explains decision to cut Brett Maher, bring in Lucas Havrisik

Sean McVay admits he put Brett Maher in “some tough situations” as a kicker this season, particularly with the long-distance FGs

Just as they did in 2020, the Los Angeles Rams are once again cycling through kickers. They had rookies Christopher Dunn and Tanner Brown competing for the job during the offseason before settling on Brown. Then, they cut Brown before the season started and signed Brett Maher to the practice squad, giving him a shot to be their Matt Gay replacement.

That didn’t work out, either. On Tuesday, they cut Maher after he missed three kicks in Sunday’s loss and seven on the season: six field goals and one PAT. Four of Maher’s six misses were from beyond 50 yards, including 56- and 57-yarders, but the Rams weren’t satisfied with the job he did from week to week.

On Wednesday, Sean McVay explained the decision to cut Maher, admitting he put the kicker in some tough spots with those long attempts.

“Want to thank Brett Maher for his contributions,” McVay said. “I do think that it wouldn’t be accurate to honestly assess that he’s been a really good kicker for a long time, handled himself with pure class, did a good job. There were some tough situations that I put him in that doesn’t go lost on me. It’s not exclusively … anytime you just look at some of these things it’s gratitude, appreciation, recognition for the good things that he did. It wasn’t like easy spots that he was put in with some of these 50-yarders. Had as many field goals made going into Week 7 as anybody in the league with two other kickers. There were a lot of good things. It wasn’t a for-sure decision, but it was something that we felt like was the best decision. Whether or not it ends up being the right one, you try to weigh the factors and you try to be as accurate with those assessments as possible.”

To take Maher’s place as the Rams’ primary kicker moving forward, they signed Lucas Havrisik off the Browns’ practice squad. Though he hasn’t kicked in a regular-season game as a pro, the Rams like what he brings to the table.

“Well, I think, a lot of the potential, a lot of the talent in terms of when you talk about as a quarterback, the ball jumping off of a guy’s hand and being able to throw consistent spiral change in trajectories. This is the same thing that you talk about,” McVay said. “Consistent ball flight, immediate height, consistency with the approach, and a lot of the things that you liked when you go back to his career at Arizona. They had liked him in Cleveland. Matt Gay’s feedback was something that that weighed into it as well based on him being around him in Indianapolis.”

Havrisik obviously doesn’t have the experience that Maher or Gay do, but that doesn’t seem to bother McVay. He doesn’t sound fully committed to Havrisik as their long-term solution and they’ll see how he does, but this is the direction Los Angeles is headed right now.

“You got to start somewhere, right?” McVay said. “You look at all of these guys had to be able to get their experience somewhere and so I don’t think that can make you gun shy. I think you want to be realistic about some of those spots similar to what was asked earlier there. So I think we’ll evaluate how the week goes. We’ll see how Lucas does. Got a couple other guys that you potentially look at via practice squad spots and then we’ll make the best decision as it relates to how we approach Dallas.”

Matt Gay’s feedback factored into Rams signing Lucas Havrisik

The Rams weighed Matt Gay’s opinion when deciding to sign Lucas Havrisik after the two were both on the Colts this summer

The Los Angeles Rams moved on from Brett Maher as their kicker this week, cutting the veteran after just seven games. They quickly replaced him with Lucas Havrisik, who they signed off the Browns’ practice squad Tuesday.

Havrisik isn’t a well-known name for fans, but he got a key endorsement from someone Rams fans know well: Matt Gay.

Sean McVay said in addition to weighing the opinions of special teams coaches Chase Blackburn and Jeremy Springer, who played a role in signing Havrisik, the Rams also got positive feedback from Gay.

Havrisik and Gay were on the Colts together this offseason, so Gay got to know the former Arizona Wildcat during their time in Indianapolis.

“Matt Gay’s feedback was something that weighed into it, as well, based on him being around him in Indianapolis,” McVay said. “All of those factors are things that go into it.”

When the Rams signed Gay back in 2020, it was at the recommendation of long snapper Jake McQuaide. Johnny Hekker also played a role in bringing him to Los Angeles, identifying him as a good kicker who could help the Rams.

Maybe this recommendation from Gay will work out similarly for the Rams as they search for a good replacement at kicker.

Rams expected to sign kicker Lucas Havrisik off Browns’ practice squad

Will the team sign someone else to the practice squad

Though the Cleveland Browns don’t have a large need at backup kicker due to Dustin Hopkins they have lost their fallback plan. The Rams are signing kicker Lucas Havrisik from the Browns practice squad to their active roster.

Havrisik spent the 2022 season with special teams coordinator Bubba Ventrone in Indianapolis on the team’s practice squad. He hasn’t attempted any regular season kicks after going undrafted out of Arizona last year.

The Browns are finally in a good position to not stress about kicker so this move doesn’t really affect the team in a major way. The team is potentially looking to add a quarterback or running back but I would also expect they add a kicker to the practice squad.

Bubba Ventrone will likely have a say in who the team brings in as he has shown already that he was a high-quality hire. Stay tuned to BrownsWire as the team will likely make more moves this week.

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Rams to sign K Lucas Havrisik off Browns’ practice squad to replace Brett Maher

The Rams have found their new kicker. They will sign Lucas Havrisik off the Browns’ practice squad to replace Brett Maher.

The Los Angeles Rams didn’t waste much time making a move at kicker after Brett Maher missed three kicks in Sunday’s loss. They cut Maher on Tuesday and will replace him with Lucas Havrisik.

According to Adam Schefter of ESPN, the Rams plan to sign Havrisik off the Browns’ practice squad, which will land him a spot on Los Angeles’ 53-man roster and at least three game checks.

Havrisik originally signed to the Colts’ practice squad in 2022 but was cut shortly after. He signed a futures contract with Indianapolis in January but was released just before the season started and had been on the Browns’ practice squad ever since.

He has yet to attempt a kick in a regular-season game.

In college at Arizona, Havrisik made 34 of his 53 field goal attempts, with a long of 57 yards – tying the school record. He also went 73-for-78 on extra point attempts at Arizona.

Colts make 9 roster cuts

The Colts made some initial roster cuts Sunday.

The Indianapolis Colts made their first roster cuts Sunday ahead of the Tuesday deadline.

With the preseason officially over, the Colts will be working over the next few days to trim the roster down to 53 players.

Here’s a look at the initial roster cuts Sunday, which included seven waived players and two others who were released outright:

Studs and duds from Colts’ preseason loss to Bills

Studs and duds from the Colts’ preseason opener against the Bills.

The Indianapolis Colts opened their preseason with a 23-19 loss against the Buffalo Bills on the road at Highmark Stadium on Saturday.

Marking the first time we’ve seen the Colts play under a new regime led by rookie head coach Shane Steichen. There were plenty of highs and lows from the preseason opener.

This will focus solely on those who performed well and those who failed to make a strong impression Saturday. Most of these players will have a chance to build off their performances, either good or bad, over the next two weeks.

Here are the studs and duds from preseason Week 1 opener against the Bills.