Rams Cut Kicker after Disastrous Day vs. Steelers

The Rams have released kicker Brett Maher after a disastrous day against the Steelers helped lead to their eventual 24-17 loss. Maher missed two field goals and an extra point, the exact deficit of seven points the Rams lost to the Steelers. After the game, head coach Sean McVay noted the team would have looked at their situation at kicker, and now they have made a change.

“We’ll look at it and we’ll see,” McVay said. “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 former Cowboys kicker had struggled this season. He made 17 of 23 field goal attempts with the Rams this year while only missing that one extra point. The team will add Lucas Havrisik to the Cleveland Browns practice squad to fill that void. He last played for the Colts; while Maher has been all around the NFL, the yips have been an issue he has faced over his career. In his career, Maher makes less than 80 percent of his kicks at 79.9%, and this last game with the Rams led to his dismissal as the team’s kicker.

Maher did a ton of kicking this year. The Rams lead the NFL in field goal attempts at 23. Maher has to be better in those spots, but the Rams have to be better as an offense to drive further down the field and make plays. Seven of those field goals were 50 or more yards for Maher. That’s a tough spot to be in, but the Steelers have done many of the same things to Chris Boswell over the years, and he has become the team’s only outlet for scoring points at times. Regardless, Maher will now look for a new team after the game.