Rams fire special teams coach Chase Blackburn after fourth loss of season

The Los Angeles Rams fired special teams coach Chase Blackburn after Thursday night’s 38-37 loss to the Seattle Seahawks, a move announced Friday by the team. Assistant special teams coach Ben Kotwica will take over as special teams coordinator for the remainder of the season, the Rams said. It is the first in-season coaching change for Rams coach Sean McVay in nine years, and it underscores McVay’s assessment that the unit has been a weakness as the team pushes toward the playoffs.

The loss featured a punt return for a touchdown by Seattle and a missed 48-yard field goal by the Rams, highlighting the unit’s ongoing issues. In three of the Rams’ four losses this season, special teams have been a source of setbacks, and a Week 10 miss by kicker Joshua Karty — an extra point and a 39-yard field goal — added to the concerns surrounding kicking and coverage. The Rams entered the night facing the challenge of stabilizing a phase of the game that has struggled to deliver consistent results.

McVay had warned that special teams “can’t continue like this,” and the franchise acted to address the unit after the latest setback. Blackburn’s removal marks a milestone for McVay, as it is the first mid-season coaching change of his tenure, a signal that the Rams are prioritizing improvement in a phase that has cost them in key moments.

Seattle’s Rashid Shaheed, whose punt return helped swing Thursday’s game, suggested that the Seahawks identified a vulnerability in the Rams’ coverage and returns. “We’ve been focused on that left return, field return, all week,” he said 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.”

From a statistical standpoint, the Rams have been toward the bottom of the league in several lines related to kicking and return duties. They average 24.8 kickoff return yards per kickoff, ranking seventh-worst in the NFL, and have not returned a kickoff for a touchdown this season. Punt returning is middling at best, with the team averaging about 9.5 yards per return. On field goals, the conversion rate sits at 75 percent, tied for the second-worst in the league, with the Saints ranking ahead of them in that metric.

With two games remaining on the regular-season schedule, the Rams are not off next until Monday, December 29, when they visit the Atlanta Falcons. They then conclude the season at home against the Arizona Cardinals, a schedule that will provide Kotwica with an immediate opportunity to prove the move’s impact on special teams.

Kotwica, who will assume duties as special teams coordinator, becomes the latest in-season adjustment under McVay’s leadership. The move signals a broader willingness to retool the staff in an effort to salvage the Rams’ postseason chances and stabilize a unit that has endured repeated misplays at critical moments.