The Rams are 2-2, and that record comes with a warning label. Injuries have done plenty of damage, but special teams has also been a steady drag on a team that can’t afford empty snaps in any phase.
The encouraging part is that the Rams have at least cleaned up one of the ugliest issues from earlier in the season: they have avoided blocked field goals and punts so far. The less encouraging part is everything else. Los Angeles is still getting outplayed in the kicking game, and that gap keeps showing up.
Coordinator Bubba Ventrone knows it. So do the players on the bubble. After Xavier Smith was released, more changes could be coming if the unit doesn’t sharpen up fast.
Punter Ethan Evans has been the most reliable piece of the group. He has handled a variety of duties, and his line-drive style can still create problems for coverage units, but he has clearly taken Ventrone’s coaching to heart.
After slipping in both gross and net punting in 2025, Evans has bounced back. He’s 18th in the NFL with 47.6 gross yards per punt and 15th with 42.1 net yards, both solid steps forward.
The concern is much bigger at kicker. Harrison Mevis looked sharp in 2025, but now he’s going through the kind of slump that hit Joshua Karty last season.
Mevis has been perfect on extra points, but he’s only five-for-seven on field goals, with both misses coming from 40 to 49 yards. He has not yet tried a kick from 50 yards or beyond.
That’s a problem for a team already living on the edge. A kicker at 71.4 percent overall and 60 percent from beyond 40 yards puts Sean McVay in a tough spot whenever the offense reaches the opponent’s 40. The pressure point is obvious, and it wouldn’t be a surprise if Les Snead brings in a practice-squad challenger soon.
The return game hasn’t offered much relief either. Alex Bachman got the nod after Smith was let go, but the results against the Eagles were shaky.
Bachman brought back four punts for 30 yards, which was actually 2.4 yards fewer than Smith averaged. Britain Covey, the former Rams return man now with the Eagles after being released by LA a year earlier, outperformed him in that game.
Bachman did have one 15-yard return, though that number came after a 23-yard runback was wiped out by a holding penalty. The rest of the day was rough: one return went for just one yard, he let a punt go untouched that was downed at the Rams seven, and another return produced three yards.
Four games is still a small sample. But the message from Ventrone’s unit is pretty clear already: Evans is moving in the right direction, while Mevis and Bachman may soon have to fend off competition if the Rams decide to keep pressing the issue.
In Other News...
Matthew Stafford Gives Rams Fans A Bigger Concern Than This Win
Matthew Staffords afternoon against the Eagles ended the way the Rams needed it to, with two late scoring drives and a win that pushed Los Angeles to 2-2 overall and 2-0 in the NFC. He finished with 316 yards through the air, and for stretches he looked like the veteran quarterback the Rams have leaned on to steady them when games start to tilt.
Still, the numbers only tell part of the story, because Stafford also threw two interceptions that helped keep Philadelphia in the game. The defense did its job by limiting the Eagles offense and giving the Rams a path to victory, but the bigger question for Sean McVays team is whether Staffords late surge was a sign of things to come or just enough to mask a concern that could linger beyond one win. [Read more 🡒]
Rams Finally Beat The Eagles But One Big Problem Remains
The Rams finally got the result they had been chasing against the Eagles, and it came in the kind of tight, physical game that has often gone the other way for Los Angeles since the Matthew Stafford era began. A defense that spent most of the afternoon making life miserable for Philadelphia changed the feel of the matchup, holding the Eagles under 200 yards and keeping them off the board on third down all game, while Kyren Williams helped steady the offense enough to keep the Rams in front.
Still, it was not a clean win for Stafford and company, because the veteran quarterback gave Philadelphia extra chances with multiple interceptions that led directly to Eagles points. Byron Young helped close the door with 2.5 sacks, including the final takedown that sealed it, but the big-picture concern for Los Angeles lingers: against a top opponent, the Rams were good enough to win, yet not sharp enough to feel fully comfortable about what comes next. [Read more 🡒]
Rams Win In Philly Led To A Heated Scene Fans Will Debate
The Rams left Lincoln Financial Field with a big Week 4 win over the Eagles, but the postgame scene quickly became its own talking point. A video posted by a fan appeared to show Rams coaches engaging with Philadelphia supporters in a way that only added fuel to an already charged atmosphere, with the exchange unfolding after the final whistle and drawing plenty of attention beyond the scoreline.
What followed looked like the kind of tense aftermath that can happen when a road team wins in Philadelphia, especially in a matchup with as much edge as this one. The clip showed fans reacting by throwing drinks, and security eventually stepped in to break things up, leaving a messy finish to a game the Rams will remember for the result as much as the drama around it. [Read more 🡒]