The Rams’ Joshua Karty kicks the game-winning field goal.
(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
The Rams, bedeviled by kicking woes in 2023, used a sixth-round draft pick to select Joshua Karty.
Karty came through with a field goal that pulled the Rams within seven points in the fourth quarter, a game-tying extra point and a 37-yard game-winning field goal.
Karty had been listed as questionable because of a hamstring injury suffered against the Arizona Cardinals. The Rams were so unsure of his status, they signed kicker Tanner Brown to the practice squad at the beginning of last week.
Karty said he “kind of Googled” himself Sunday morning and discovered he was still listed as questionable but he got through pregame warmups and felt better than expected.
“As the game wore on, I think my kicks got a lot better and better,” Karty said. “The extra point at the end, and field goal at the end, those were my best two kicks.”
Karty said that before his final kick, he thought about former Stanford teammate Emmet Kenney, who Friday kicked a game-winning field goal against Syracuse.
“As soon as that happened on Friday, I knew like, ‘How cliché would that be if both of us got game-winning kicks in the same week?’” Karty said. “And it turned out to happen.”
Other special teams players also contributed.
Running back Ronnie Rivers kept alive a first-half scoring drive when he rushed for a first down on a fake punt. Xavier Smith, promoted this week from the practice squad, returned a punt 38 yards to help set up the game-winning field goal.
