The Rams’ kicking operation has been a problem all year.
While kicker Joshua Karty is the face of it because misses count on his stats, he’s clearly not the only issue. The protection in front of him has allowed multiple blocks. The timing between the long snapper and holder has also been inconsistent.
After Karty badly missed a 39-yard field goal and an extra point during Sunday’s win over the Saints, head coach Sean McVay acknowledged how bad it’s been in the opening statement of his postgame press conference.
“I know you guys are going to ask me — it’s got to get better. We’re going to be able to figure out how to fix this, but it can’t continue like this [with regards to our kicking operation](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7HXm6DaM_Z8),” McVay said. “Not going to get into blaming anybody specifically. Ultimately, it’s my responsibility. It’s gone on for too long, and we’ve got to be able to fix it.”
That much is obvious, as the Rams are 6-2 and arguably could be 8-0 if they had a reliable kicking operation. McVay noted that at this point, the third phase could keep the club from being a true championship-caliber team.
“It’s going to cost us — it’s cost us already,” McVay said. “It’s been a momentum killer. It does take the air out of our sails. Our guys have shown they can respond and overcome it. But you do have to be — the harsh and the truth of it is, is this is not sustainable to continuously go where we want to go. And that’s really, just trying to be able to get our seventh win against an excellent football team. We’re fortunate that we’ve gotten away with it. But it has cost us throughout the season. And that’s something you can’t run away from. That’s the truth.
“But what I will say is, hopefully you can appreciate and respect, is that the granular elements of why it has or hasn’t gone down, I don’t necessarily think this is the appropriate time to acknowledge that. I don’t believe in putting anybody out there. And it does fall back on, it is my responsibility to figure it out. And I thought we were trending in the right direction, and today was a step back. And that’s disappointing and that’s unfortunate.”
So, how will McVay go about evaluating the kicking game?
“It’s about acknowledging the totality of where the issues are,” McVay said. “And, again, I don’t think this is the venue or the setting to be able to blame anybody. That’s never what I believe. But we’ve got to be able to get it fixed. And it is, it truly takes all 11. And there are some instances that I could go in depth of what occurred, but that doesn’t move us forward in the right way.
“Ultimately, I’ve got to be able to figure out, alright, collectively, with our coaches, let’s address the issues, let’s see what the possible solutions are, and we go from there.”
One ostensible solution is that L.A. could try out kickers. But from the way McVay talked about it, he doesn’t see Karty as the underlying issue.
“What I would say is, I’ve got confidence in Josh,” McVay said. “There’s a lot of layers to it and we’ll evaluate all parts of it. And so, I think no different than when you’re throwing interceptions or whatever it is, I think that naturally, the narrative shifts toward the kicker and that might not always be the case.”
Chase Blackburn has been the Rams’ special teams coordinator since 2023. The team hired veteran coach Ben Kotwica as assistant special teams coordinator earlier this year. He’s previously served as a coordinator for the Jets, Washington, Atlanta, and Denver.
In his second season, Karty has made just 10-of-15 field goals and 23-of-26 extra points so far in 2025.