The Los Angeles Rams have ruthlessly fired special teams coach Chase Blackburn after Thursday night’s dramatic loss to Seattle Seahawks.
In a dramatic shakeup led by Rams head coach Sean McVay, Blackburn has been shown the door and will be replaced by assistant special teams coach Ben Kotwica.
It’s the first in-season coaching change McVay has made in nine years as head coach of the Rams but he had clearly indentified special teams as a weakness as the season nears the playoffs.
In three of the four losses sustained by the Rams this season, the special teams have been at fault.
Against the Seahawks, the Rams lost 38-37 and conceded a punt return from Seattles Rashid Shaheed while also missing a 48-yard field goal.
The writing was, in many ways, on the wall for Blackburn after Week 10, when kicker Joshua Karty missed an extra-point attempt as well as a 39-yard field goal.
McVay warned then that special teams ‘can’t continue like this’ and given that they did, he has been forced into action.
Speaking after Thursday’s game, Seahawks man Shaheed said that the team saw a weakness they could exploit in that part of the Rams setup.
‘We’ve been focused on that left return, field return, all week,’ he told reporters after the game.
‘We knew that they had kind of a weak point with their special teams and we were able to circle the punt team and make a big play.’
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