The Los Angeles Rams looked to be in control in Week 7 against the Pittsburgh Steelers as they had a 9- 3 lead at halftime.
However, things quickly changed in the fourth quarter as the Steelers were able to bully the Rams’ defense for a pair of scores that ultimately led to Los Angeles suffering a 24-17 loss. Offensively, the Rams just couldn’t put together any meaningful drives in the final period when they were forced into obvious passing situations.
Complicating matters further was the poor showing from Brett Maher, who missed multiple field goals and an extra point to give Pittsburgh some advantageous field positions. Maher has struggled so far this season and the dud this past Sunday will certainly linger well into the week.
Sean McVay was not pleased after the game and said that Maher’s got to rise to the occasion the next time has those sorts of opportunities.
“We’ll look at it and we’ll see. He’s got to be better. That’s seven points that we missed out on that were key and critical for the momentum of the game and the type of game that it was. Those were tough ones today.”
The Rams would go on to release Maher on Tuesday, and McVay discussed the possibility of bringing in other kickers for a workouts this week.
“There’s a possibility. I talked to (Special Teams Coordinator) Chase (Blackburn) and (Assistant Special Teams Coach) Jeremy Springer earlier and I’ll talk to (General Manager) Les (Snead) after this. You want to evaluate the landscape, see what that looks like. (K) Brett’s (Maher) been pretty consistent throughout his career. He’s had some long attempts that are difficult kicks to be able to make that we’ve missed. You obviously want to be able to hit the extra point, but those will be things that we could possibly look into.”
Maher’s first miss of the afternoon came in the first quarter when he couldn’t connect a 53-yard field goal that hit the left upright. Starting at their own 43-yard line, the Steelers were able to hit their own field goal attempt to give them an early 3-0 lead.
Maher did manage to redeem himself in the second quarter when he chipped in a 41-yarder, but at the end of the half he inexplicably missed the extra point. His second miss came in shortly in the third quarter after the Rams forced a Steelers punt as he was wide left on a 51-yard attempt that led to another Pittsburgh touchdown.
Self-inflicted wounds like that would drive any head coach crazy, and McVay is no different. Those seven points could’ve potentially led to an overtime, but instead Los Angeles must deal with its fourth loss of the regular season.
The Rams are set to face Maher’s former team the Dallas Cowboys in Week 8, so he will not get a chance at redemtpion L.A. goes a different direction at kicker.
Sean McVay dismisses controversial spot against Steelers
Despite the missed points from Maher, the Rams still almost had a chance to tie the game late in the fourth. Pittsburgh decided to go for it on fourth-and-one and called a quarterback sneak for Kenny Pickett.
The defensive line looked to hold Pickett from crossing the line to gain although the referee that spotted the ball ruled he had enough for the first down. McVay was upset with the call, which couldn’t be reviewed, but later did not make any excuses for the team.
