INGLEWOOD, Calif. – Rams punter [Ethan Evans](/team/players-roster/ethan-evans/)' 17th punt inside an opponent's 20-yard line gave an opponent the shallowest field position possible
The Seahawks were about to get the ball back with 1:50 remaining, enough time to mount a potential game-winning drive, but Evans had other ideas. That punt bounced into the air at the two-yard line before landing out of bounds just in front of the pylon.
Seattle could only manage a setup for a 61-yard field goal try that fell short, preserving a narrow 21-19 Los Angeles win Sunday at SoFi Stadium.
"Just headbutts, hugs, high-fives," Evans said of the reaction when he got to the sideline. "I mean, you name the celebrations, we were doing them."
As one could imagine based on Evans' reaction, he didn't need to get to the sideline and see a replay – or the actions of his teammates – before he realized how big the punt was.
"I realized on the field because I saw it bounce way up in the air and saw it bounce out of bounds, and then the ref finally called it at the one-yard line," Evans said. "So then that's when I was like, 'Oh,' and then I just went crazy."
Those 17 punts inside an opponent's 20 are tied for third-most in the NFL entering Monday Night Football. And that moment complemented a solid performance by the Rams' special teams overall, with kicker Harrison Mevis also making all three of his extra point attempts.
Evans averaged 42.2 yards per punt across six punts, which helped limit explosive returner Rashid Shaheed to two returns for 20 total yards. The four unreturned punts all landed out of bounds by design to minimize Shaheed's impact.
"It was big," head coach Sean McVay said. "It was awesome to be able to see special teams… you're not taking for granted making all the extra points. We needed every single one of them today. I thought Ethan… He did a great job on those. He had to speed up his delivery on a couple, but the protection was really good. Shaheed's a dangerous returner and so we kind of had a specific approach that we wanted to take. But what a job by Ethan."