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By Keagan Stiefel
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The Los Angeles Rams deployed three different players who kicked the football during their victory over the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday.
Brandon McManus made all four of his attempts -- three extra points and one chip shot field goal. Joshua Karty, who was active just to kick kickoffs, was called for a kickoff short of the landing zone on two of his five kickoffs. Ethan Evans handled the punts, as he has throughout the season.
It's the first time in a long time we've seen kickoff and kicking duties handled by two different players despite being on the same roster. Rams head coach Sean McVay explained following the 24-9 verdict from SoFi Stadium.
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“The thought process behind it was we had not been having any success covering kicks,” McVay said, per Pro Football Talk. “We’ve got to be better in that area, but you did see when we were able to cover it, because he hits a really good ball that’s hard to field. . . . They’re not going to be able to field it clean and we’re getting a start before they’re getting their return set up, that was the thinking behind it. But obviously we did not want to have two plays that put it on the 40, where you’re kicking it short of the landing zone.”
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Los Angeles (the team with the extra kicker) has dealt with special teams issues since the jump, having seen each of its last two seasons ended in large part due to its under investment in the third phase of the game -- allowing a punt return touchdown sparked their playoff loss last season to the Seattle Seahawks and losing the field position battle by a significant margin in the snow during their close loss two seasons ago to the Philadelphia Eagles.
It's a consistent issue, which means they need to make more significant investments.
The Rams started with a relatively significant decision Sunday. The question is whether or not they'll stick to that aggressive method.
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