For as good as the Rams have been this year, their special teams have struggled. Now, with two games left in the regular season, coach Sean McVay is making a change.
The Rams have fired special-teams coordinator Chase Blackburn, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN.com.
Blackburn, 42, played 10 seasons in the NFL, winning a pair of Super Bowls with the Giants. His coaching career began in 2016, with the Panthers. He was hired by the Rams in 2023.
On Thursday night, a 58-yard punt return touchdown by Seahawks receiver Rashid Shaheed in the fourth quarter sparked a 16-point comeback. Shaheed said after the game that the Seahawks had spotted a flaw in L.A.'s punt coverage.
“We’ve been focused on that left return all week,” Shaheed said. “We knew they had kind of a weak point with their special teams.”
On Friday, Rams coach Sean McVay was asked generally to descibe what he saw on the game-changing punt return.
“I saw a flat, low kick that was not at all intended for what we wanted,” McVay said. “You give a guy like that an opportunity, that’s where the momentum flipped.”
In hindsight, that’s where the switch flipped on McVay making a change as it relates to a critical aspect of any football team, especially in close games.
