The Los Angeles Rams struggled in the second half, falling to the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 7.
The Rams led 9-3 at halftime and controlled the game until the fourth quarter. Pittsburgh was able to launch a late-game comeback by taking advantage of good field position and carving up Los Angeles’ secondary for big chunk gains.
However, the Rams had opportunity to maintain momentum, but Brett Maher missed multiple range goal attempts and an extra point, allowing the Steelers to remain in the game for the majority of the afternoon. Maher missed two 50-plus yard field goal tries, giving Pittsburgh chances to score.
Following Maher’s underwhelming performance, the Los Angeles Rams chose to dismiss him and sign Lucas Havrisik from the Cleveland Browns’ practice squad, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN:
This move seemed to come after Sean McVay stated that he and the team would investigate the kicking situation following the loss. Maher nearly cost the Rams another victory earlier in the season when he missed two field goals in overtime against the Indianapolis Colts in Week 2.
Los Angeles has long struggled with special teams, and Maher’s latest performance was yet another reminder of that. Maher was a late addition to the 53-man roster after the Rams went into the preseason with rookie Tanner Brown, but the team will now be reliant on Havrisik until at least Week 8 against the Dallas Cowboys, assuming no other changes occur.
The kicking difficulties highlight the loss of Matt Gay, who inked a four-year deal with the Colts that made him one of the highest-paid kickers in the league. Havirsik should be an improvement over Maher, but that remains to be seen.
Darrell Henderson had no idea he’d be starting against the Steelers.
McVay has had to juggle a lot of running backs in the last several weeks as he worked in new ones against the Steelers. L.A. brought in numerous players to fill the vacuum left by the injuries to Kyren Williams and Ronnie Rivers.
Darrell Henderson was brought to the active roster this week and acknowledged that he had no idea he’d be starting versus Pittsburgh.
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