January 18, 2026: Harrison Mevis stood on the field at Soldier Field with the Rams’ season hanging in the balance. The divisional-round game against the Chicago Bears had gone to overtime, and Los Angeles needed a 42-yard field goal to advance. Around 60,000 fans rose to their feet, booing and hissing as Mevis lined up. He had been cut by the New York Jets before the season and spent weeks practicing, waiting for another NFL opportunity. Now, with one kick, he could send the Rams to the NFC Championship Game. “I have the easiest job out here,” he had said of his mindset. Then he drilled it.

For a kicker who had fought to get back into the league, that moment was proof that he belonged. Mevis had converted 12 of 13 field-goal attempts in the 2025 regular season and made all six of his attempts in the playoffs. He had turned an opportunity midway through the season into a role he could trust himself to hold. But on Monday night against the Buffalo Bills, two missed field goals left the Rams without the finish they needed. By Tuesday, Los Angeles, too, had decided to move on from Mevis.

“A kicker change for the #Rams: They’re releasing Harrison Mevis and signing Blake Grupe off the #Jets’ practice squad, sources tell me and @RapSheet. A move at the position after last night’s overtime blocked field goal,” ESPN’s Mike Garafolo wrote on X.

The trouble started well before Monday night’s loss.

In Week 16 of the 2025 season, a 58-yard punt return touchdown by the Seattle Seahawks helped spark a 16-point comeback against Los Angeles. The Rams fired special teams coordinator Chase Blackburn the following day after three seasons in the role and brought in Bubba Ventrone in January. Yet the unit’s problems have followed them into 2026. Against Buffalo, Ray Davis returned the opening kickoff 70 yards, setting the tone before the Rams had even run an offensive play. The field-goal sequence only added to that frustration.

Mevis missed a 50-yard attempt wide left in the first quarter. In overtime, after Buffalo fumbled on its opening possession, Los Angeles drove to the Bills’ 30-yard line. But on third-and-5, Kyren Williams was stopped for no gain, leaving the Rams to attempt a 48-yard field goal. Bills defensive lineman Greg Rousseau broke through and blocked the kick. Buffalo then drove for Tyler Bass’ 45-yard game-winning field goal, sealing a 37-34 victory and dropping Los Angeles to 2-3.

The block was not an isolated incident for Los Angeles. According to ESPN Research, the Rams have had three blocked field-goal attempts since the start of the 2025 season, tied for the most in the NFL. They have also had 81 missed or blocked kicks under McVay since 2017, including the playoffs, the third-highest total in the league. Those numbers point to a problem that extends beyond one kicker’s performance.

McVay did not hide his frustration after the defeat. He singled out the field-goal and extra-point units, saying, “In the kicking game, especially with our PAT, field goal, not even close to good enough. It cost us the game tonight.” He also said he would “evaluate everything” about the unit.

However, McVay also took responsibility for the decision that put Mevis in position to attempt the potential winner. Rather than treating the blocked kick as solely a kicking-unit failure, he admitted he wished he had called a better play on third down to move the offense closer or give it a chance to go for the first down.

“I wish I would’ve had a better play call and gone for it and gotten it a lot tighter,” McVay said. “I’m sick right now with myself and I’m so proud of that group. This is the tough part of sports but I’m proud of that team. I’m proud of the way that we battled. And I’m sick that we came up short. I’ll be regretting kicking that and not having a better call to be able to go for it on third down and go to fourth or whatever it was. It’s on me.”

That admission adds context to the decision to release Mevis. The kicker had missed his first attempt, but the overtime block also exposed a protection failure, while McVay questioned his own play-calling on the preceding down. Still, Mevis’ season-long numbers had given the Rams reason to reconsider the position: he had converted only five of nine field-goal attempts in 2026, a sharp drop from his previous campaign.

Mevis joined Los Angeles in November 2025 after the Rams moved on from rookie kicker Joshua Karty, whose struggles included two blocked kicks in a loss to the Philadelphia Eagles. Mevis provided a steady option during the remainder of the season, converting 12 of 13 field goals in the regular season and all six of his attempts in the playoffs. Across those two stretches, he made 18 of 19 field goals. He also converted all 39 of his regular-season extra-point attempts in 2025. The change now brings Blake Grupe into the picture.

The Rams are signing the 27-year-old from the New York Jets’ practice squad, where he had spent the 2026 season without attempting a kick in a regular-season game. Grupe previously kicked for the New Orleans Saints and Indianapolis Colts, giving Los Angeles an experienced replacement rather than an untested rookie.

Grupe’s 2025 season was uneven, but it ended on a stronger note. He converted 18 of 26 field-goal attempts with New Orleans before being released during the season and joining Indianapolis, where he made all 11 of his field-goal attempts. Across his NFL career, he has converted 86 of 105 field goals, an 81.9% success rate, with a career-long make of 60 yards.

Grupe is expected to take over as the Rams prepare to face the Arizona Cardinals in Week 6 on October 18. The immediate challenge will be to provide stability at a position that has repeatedly undermined Los Angeles.

Mevis’ release may address the team’s concerns about his accuracy, but the blocked kick against Buffalo and the Rams’ wider special-teams record suggest that replacing the kicker alone may not resolve the problem.