Rams cut kicker Harrison Mevis after botched field goal attempt in overtime ‘cost us the game’
The Los Angeles Rams released kicker Harrison Mevis after his missed and blocked field goals contributed to a 37-34 overtime defeat by the Buffalo Bills. Coach Sean McVay said the team’s kicking performance was not good enough and had cost them the game, as the club acted on his pledge to review its special teams.
Mevis missed a 50-yard attempt in the first quarter and had a potential 48-yard winner blocked in overtime. He had made five of nine field goals in the Rams’ first five games this season, after a stronger prior season and perfect post-season record. The Rams signed Blake Grupe, who made all 11 of his field goals in five games for Indianapolis last season; since 2017, Los Angeles has had 81 missed or blocked kicks, the third-highest total in the NFL.
- Rams release Harrison Mevis after overtime loss to Buffalo.
- A blocked 48-yard kick denied a potential game-winning field goal.
- Blake Grupe joins after making 11 of 11 kicks for Indianapolis last season.
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The Los Angeles Rams and Buffalo Bills are teams in the National Football League (NFL), the top American football league. A field goal is a way to score by kicking the ball between the uprights; a blocked kick is stopped by the opposing team before it reaches them.
Kickers handle field-goal attempts and extra points, so their performance can affect close matches. Harrison Mevis had been more reliable in the previous season and post-season, but his record was less consistent in the Rams’ first five games this season.
Los Angeles has had more missed or blocked kicks than most NFL teams since 2017. Blake Grupe, who has made all 11 of his field goals in a previous five-game spell with Indianapolis, is the replacement kicker.
Both sides, in good faith
The strongest fair case each way — we don't pick a winner.
The case for
The Rams can argue that reliable kicking is essential in close games, and Mevis’s two costly misses in this defeat, alongside a poor start to the season, justified acting quickly to improve the position. Releasing him also follows the coach’s stated commitment to review special teams and gives the replacement a chance to contribute.
The case against
Mevis’s supporters can argue that one game’s high-profile errors should be weighed against his stronger prior season and perfect post-season record, as well as the team’s broader history of kicking problems. Releasing him after a short run of games may treat a shared or recurring team issue as an individual failure and offers little room to recover from a difficult spell.