Karty and kicking problems

Sean McVay responds to Pat McAfee’s theory about Joshua Karty’s struggles
McVay admits McAfee has a fair point about Karty’s kickoffs impacting his FG and PAT attempts

Cameron DaSilva

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Los Angeles Rams kicker Joshua Karty has endured some struggles this season, though they’re not entirely his fault. He’s just 9-for-12 on field goal attempts and has had an NFL-high two field goals blocked. Karty has also had two extra-point attempts blocked, including one that would’ve given the Rams the lead against the 49ers on Thursday night.

He can’t control the protection up front, but the trajectory of his kicks certainly play a role in whether they get blocked or not. Pat McAfee, who’s a former Pro Bowl punter and all-around special teams star, shared an interesting theory last week that perhaps Karty’s low-driving squib kicks on kickoffs are having an impact on his field goal attempts.

McAfee said he’s “really worried about Karty” and believes he’s an “incredible talent,” but he thinks the squib kicks are hurting him as a place kicker.

“Karty hitting those fat balls, those knuckleballs on kickoffs has been very good for the Rams,” McAfee said. “It’s gotten a lot of attention. It’s gotten a lot of positive hype for this new kickoff…I don’t like kickers kicking fat balls all of the time… He’s seemingly hitting fat balls and fat balls go left… I think him hitting a fat ball every single time he hits a kickoff isn’t necessarily, for me, the greatest thing mentally.”

Sean McVay was asked about McAfee’s theory during the “Coach McVay Show” on Monday and he didn’t disagree. It’s even something the Rams have talked about as they attempt to get their kicking operation fixed.

“I think that’s fair,” McVay said. “He is certainly an expert in that arena, given his background. That’s something we’ve talked about, and I don’t think that’s a misguided thing. Whether there’s truth to that or not, we’re continuing to dive into that, but I don’t think that’s unfair for him to say.”

Is Karty the primary reason for his kicks being blocked? Or is it more on the protection? McVay doesn’t want to assign blame to one person, but he did note that trajectory is a factor.

“I’m not interested in identifying primary culprits, but I will say this: I’m interested in all 11 hands on deck. Snap, hold, kick. It’s timing, it’s trajectory, it’s the protection for that 1.25 seconds. So we all have to be better there,” he said.

As for whether the kicking situation will have McVay’s full attention: “It already does and it absolutely will.”

There have been no signs that the Rams are considering making a change at kicker, or that they’re thinking about altering their kickoff strategy. But with the team leaving points on the board by getting four kicks blocked in the last four games, they need to figure something out. And fast.

They’re taking a very intentional approach to getting it sorted out, focusing more on it than usual.

“I think you lean in. I don’t want to get too granular with you guys for the different reasons that it hasn’t gone down, but there’s going to be an intentional approach, all hands on deck, which that’s always been the case,” McVay said during Monday’s presser. “We’ll lean in more than we have. I just refuse to believe that this isn’t something that we can’t fix. We’re going to continue to fight, scratch and claw to be able to give the techniques, the fundamentals and get the right people in the right spots. Then ultimately understand what is going to be required for us to execute at a high clip in a phase that is supremely important. It’s cost us through the first five weeks.”