Cowboys vs Rams news: Taking a look at Los Angeles’ Week 7 loss

Rams release K Brett Maher - Mike Florio, NBC Sports

The former Cowboys kicker’s misses left crucial points on the board.

Brett Maher is on the market.

The Rams have released the 33-year-old kicker. Two days ago, he missed two field goals and an extra point in a 7-point loss to the Steelers.

The move seemed to be coming. Coach Sean McVay said after the game, “We’ll look at it, and we’ll see. He’s got to be better. That’s seven points that were missed out on, that were key and critical for the momentum of the game and the type of game that it was.”

Added McVay on Monday: “Brett’s been pretty consistent throughout his career. He’s had some long attempts that are difficult kicks to be able to make that we’ve missed. You obviously want to be able to hit the extra point, but those will be things that we could possibly look into.”

Presumably, the Rams will be trying out kickers today.

Maher has been kicking since 2013, for a variety of teams. in both the NFL and the CFL. Last year, Maher kicked for the Cowboys. He lost a competition with Will Lutz in Denver this year, before joining the Rams.

Maher now becomes a free agent. He’s free to sign with any other team, at any time.

Rams’ run game remains productive despite loss to Steelers - Stu Jackson, TheRams.com

The Rams’ ground attack shined despite facing injuries in the running back room.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. – A focal point in their second-half surge to defeat the Cardinals in Week 6, all eyes were on the Rams’ run game in Week 7, especially with their two biggest contributors to the rotation – Kyren Williams and Ronnie Rivers – on Injured Reserve.

Thanks to two experienced faces in Darrell Henderson Jr. and Royce Freeman, they were able to keep that production going despite the 24-17 loss to the Steelers on Sunday at SoFi Stadium.

“I thought they did a great job,” Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford said. “I thought our guys up front did a really nice job controlling the line of scrimmage, our guys on the outside competed really well. Their safeties and corners and nickels were down in the box quite a bit, and our guys were covering them up in the run game. I thought all the guys we handed the ball to today did a really nice job.”

Henderson found the endzone for his first touchdown since Week 10 of last season, posting 18 carries for 61 yards in addition to the score, while Freeman added 12 carries for a team-high 66 yards. The duo represented the bulk of Los Angeles’ 135 rushing yards on 31 carries as a team, which averaged out to 4.4 yards per carry.

Freeman was quick to credit Los Angeles’ offensive line, and also indicated he left some yards on the field even after averaging a team-high 5.5 yards per carry.

“Up front, those guys, they handle their own,” Freeman said. “Running behind those guys, they make our lives easy. For me personally, I feel I could do better for them, get some more yards out of those runs.”

Steelers’ offense awakens in fourth quarter, rallies for a 24-17 victory over the Rams - AP, ESPN

The Rams defense allowed the Steelers to take control and score two touchdowns in the final frame to give Pittsburgh the win.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. — — Both the Steelers and the Rams knew their tight game wasn’t solely decided by one questionable fourth-down spot at the two-minute warning.

That didn’t make Los Angeles any happier about the officials’ decision — and Pittsburgh wasn’t about to apologize for earning a big break in its impressive comeback victory.

Jaylen Warren and Najee Harris rushed for touchdowns in the fourth quarter, and the Steelers awoke from a quiet offensive day just in time to grab a 24-17 victory over the Rams on Sunday.

Kenny Pickett passed for 230 yards and ran for another score for the Steelers (4-2), who had just 110 yards in the first three quarters at SoFi Stadium. But much-maligned coordinator Matt Canada’s offense finally found some holes in the Los Angeles (3-4) defense in the fourth quarter, racking up three long drives culminating in two TDs and the chance to run out the clock.

Pickett got that generous spot to convert a fourth-and-1 at the Los Angeles 38 on the final snap before the two-minute warning.

“I was getting it,” Pickett said. “I was doing whatever I could to get it, let’s put it that way.”

Coach Sean McVay couldn’t challenge the spot because the Rams were out of timeouts, and the play occurred just outside the window that would have resulted in a booth review.

“It doesn’t matter what I think,” McVay said. “That was the spot they made. I’m not going to sit here and make any excuses about stuff that didn’t go down. Those plays shouldn’t have come down to that if we executed like we were capable of.”

Steelers vs. Rams score, takeaways: Kenny Pickett, Pittsburgh’s offense come alive in second half of win - Bryan DeArdo, CBS Sports

The Steelers’ defense kick-started Pittsburgh’s second half comeback.

During the second half of Sunday’s game, the Pittsburgh Steelers looked like the team many thought they would be when the regular season started six weeks ago. In all three phases, Mike Tomlin’s team outplayed the Rams in the second half en route to a 24-17 win.

Trailing, 9-3, at halftime, an interception by T.J. Watt deep in L.A. territory jump-started the Steelers’ big second half. Pittsburgh took the lead moments later on a short run by Kenny Pickett, who used his legs and his right arm to lead the Steelers to victory.

Pittsburgh (4-2) was also aided by three missed kicks by Brett Maher that included a 51-yard attempt that would have given the home team a 10-point lead with 1:22 left in the third. Pittsburgh responded by scoring a touchdown on its next two drives while forcing the Rams into a pair of punts over that span.

Los Angeles (3-4) lost despite a big day from rookie wideout Puka Nacua, who caught eight passes for 154 yards. Nacua’s big game, however, wasn’t enough to mask Cooper Kupp’s almost invisible stat line of two catches for 29 yards. Kupp dropped two passes early, and his only catch in the second half was on a Rams two-point conversion.