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PHILADELPHIA — Safety Kam Curl did not see it happen initially because he was on the Rams sideline teasing the Philadelphia Eagles about what he thought was his team’s certain victory.

Punter and holder Ethan Evans had a close-up view of the first part, but could not stop the second.

Quarterback Matthew Stafford, an 18th-year pro, said he had never witnessed a game-ending play like it.

Those were just a few of the memories from Rams players when asked about last season’s game against the Philadelphia Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field.

Minutes after the Eagles blocked a late field-goal attempt, the Rams lined up for another one on the final play. Jordan Davis of the Eagles leaped and blocked the kick, scooped the ball and returned it 61 yards for a touchdown that sent the Rams to a 33-26 defeat.

“All I heard was ‘boom, boom,’” Curl said of the kick and subsequent block, “and then I looked and it was all bad from there.”

Philadelphia Eagles defensive tackle Jordan Davis prepares to pick up a loose ball after blocked field-goal attempt against the Rams on Sept. 21, 2025.

(Chris Szagola / Associated Press)

The not-so-Super Rams return to the scene of that fiasco on Sunday.

And they arrive with several special teams units that remain a concern for a star-studded team that opened the season as the overwhelming favorite to win Super Bowl LXI at SoFi Stadium.

Not that the Rams have looked the part.

They lost their opener against the San Francisco 49ers in Australia, rebounded with a victory over the New York Giants, and last Sunday blew a 16-0 halftime lead in a 30-26 loss to the Denver Broncos in Denver.

Now they play an Eagles team coming off a 27-7 defeat by the Chicago Bears.

Late last season, coach Sean McVay fired special teams coordinator Chase Blackburn, and Ben Kotwica served as interim coordinator for the final two games. During the offseason, McVay hired Bubba Ventrone, who had coordinated special teams for the Indianapolis Colts and Cleveland Browns.

They also signed veteran long-snapper Joe Cardona and linebacker Grant Stuard, a special teams veteran.

The Rams’ field-goal unit is seemingly in a better place than it was last season.

Kicker Harrison Mevis replaced Joshua Karty several games after the debacle against the Eagles. He made 18 of 19 field-goal attempts in nine regular-season games and the playoffs, and has made four of five attempts this season, including two against the Broncos.

The Rams have improved in “that particular phase,” McVay said, “but you have to do it again” against a formidable Eagles field-goal block unit.

“That certainly is not anything we’re taking for granted,” McVay said.

On the same day the Rams lost to the Eagles last season, Ventrone was coaching for the Browns, who blocked a field-goal attempt by the Green Bay Packers with less than 30 seconds left, and then won the game with a field goal.

“It comes down to execution and playing with good fundamentals in those areas,” Ventrone said. “If we can do that, then we’ll be in a better spot.”

While the field-goal unit has mostly thrived, Evans has struggled with consistency, specifically directional placement of his kicks. On Friday, the Rams waived punt returner Xavier Smith, who fumbled in last season’s NFC championship game and made several decision-making errors against the Broncos. Alex Bachman will return punts against the Eagles, McVay said.

The kickoff coverage unit gave up a long return against the 49ers but appears to have improved.

The Rams will need solid performances from the offense, defense and special teams if they hope to defeat the Eagles for only the second time in eight games under McVay.

The Rams would be going for the second consecutive victory over the Eagles had they not blown a 19-point third-quarter lead and had two kicks blocked last season.

The Rams trailed 27-26 when they lined up for a 44-yard attempt with three seconds left.

“You knew it was going to be the last play no matter what,” Rams defensive coordinator Chris Shula said. “You weren’t going to [overtime]. I think I put my headset down.

“You put everything away and you’re like, ‘All right, here we go. This kick is going to decide my mood for this next week.’”

Evans recalled that after Davis blocked Karty’s kick, the ball went over Evans’ head. He attempted to dive on the ball, but he was hit in the back.

“By the time I got up and looked,” Evans said, “[Davis] was already in the end zone.”

The Rams aim to avoid a repeat.

Curl said the formula for success was simple. And it applied for offense, defense and special teams.

“Just finish,” he said.

Every footballer has a story, but not many are quite as trippy as the one Luis Binks tells while sitting among the palm trees of La Manga, Scotland’s training headquarters for a few days this week.

At 25, the Brondby centre-half and captain is pushing hard for a Scotland debut against Slovenia on Saturday, a spot in the heart of Sebastien Pocognoli’s defence having opened up since Grant Hanley and John Souttar were jettisoned once the Belgian took over from Steve Clarke.

Binks, with a grandparent from Dunbar, is among the eight uncapped players in the new manager’s squad.

That’s a lot of new faces and a lot of new stories.

Binks talks about the early weeks of his time at Montreal Impact in the MLS; February to March, 2020. He was 18 and recalls: “I’d been at Tottenham since I was very young, but I just wanted to go and play first-team football.

“That was my biggest thing, to not get caught up in the whole youth system. I feel that if you get caught in that, it’s not real football. I wanted to test myself.”

Which brought him to Montreal where his manager was the great Thierry Henry.

“I’d signed in February and then we went into Covid lockdown in March,” Binks explains. “I hadn’t yet found an apartment. I was in one hotel and Thierry was in another. The one I was in was then shut down.

“He was staying at the Ritz on his own. They wanted to move me to a hotel by the airport and I didn’t want to go because there was nothing there. It felt like prison, almost. One day I get a call from him, saying: ‘Do you want to move to where I am? You can go on the other floor’.”

The Ritz-Carlton is a five-star retreat with 129 rooms. Henry and Binks were the only residents.

“I’d go for runs in the morning and he’d be sat in the reception on his own. When I’d get back from the run, he’d still be sat there. I’d spend a few hours with him, just trying to pick his brains.

“I remember one night I was sat in my room just playing PlayStation and he rings me and goes, ‘do you want to get a pizza?’. There’s me and him driving around Montreal looking for a pizza. It’s a bit surreal, but that was how it was.

“I’m saying it now like it’s just anybody, but there’s a big aura around him. I was nervous at the time, but I asked him who’s the best defender he’s played with and against and why and it was a good time.

“It’s a bit of a blur now, but I always remember him talking about Sol Campbell and just saying what made him great and how I could improve as a defender.

“I owe a lot to him because he gave me my first chance in senior football.”

Alexandre Pantoja and Joshua Van hope their fight Saturday at Crypto.com Arena will last longer than 26 seconds.

It has been nine months since their first bout, which ended in less than a minute because of a Pantoja injury and made Van the UFC flyweight champion. Pantoja aims to reclaim the belt he lost at UFC 331, with the main event beginning at 6 p.m. and streaming on Paramount+.

Pantoja dislocated his elbow when he fell while trying to defend against one of Van’s moves on Dec. 6 at UFC 323 in Las Vegas. The fight ended immediately.

Van celebrated winning the 125-pound title, but both fighters walked away from that night feeling everyone deserved more than the premature result.

Alexandre Pantoja holds his arm after losing his flyweight title fight on Dec. 6 in Las Vegas.

(Ian Maule / Getty Images)

Pantoja, of Brazil, has not competed since that night. He has spent most of the past nine months recovering from the injury, while Van successfully defended his title once against Tatsuro Taira in May, winning by stoppage in the final round.

“It’s been [nine] long months,” Pantoja said. “I’ve been working hard. And at a certain point, I think that after two years as champion, five title fights — almost six title fights — at a certain point it’s good to take some time off, enjoy my family, enjoy myself. But at the same time, I’m really hungry to win again.”

Pantoja said he returned to the gym two days after that first fight. Although the injury kept him out of the octagon, he didn’t want to stay away from training for too long because he said that would have made it harder to get back to fighting at the championship level.

During his time out of the octagon, he observed how the division changed.

“I see a lot of good fights. We’re seeing the top 10 change almost completely,” Pantoja said Wednesday. “I see incredible fights in the flyweight division. And I think this Saturday, with my fight against Joshua Van in the main event here in Los Angeles, is very special.”

Van, meanwhile, enters the rematch coming off a five-round championship bout.

“I’ve been working on my ground game, and you’ll see it,” said Van, who holds dual American and Myanmar citizenship. “I tried it in the fight against Taira, but I didn’t quite pull it off. But this time, you’ll see a different level from Joshua Van.”

The champion’s confidence remains undiminished, as he sees the rematch as an opportunity to put any debate surrounding that first fight in 2025 to rest and prove his place in the division.

“When I beat him, I’ll be one of the greats in this division, and then the next challenger will come and try to take the belt from me,” Van said.

Pantoja said Van has changed since December, highlighting the fight against Taira and noting the champion has refined aspects of his fighting style.

Joshua Van celebrates after defeating Alexandre Pantoja in a flyweight title bout during UFC 323 on Dec. 6 in Las Vegas.

(Ian Maule / Getty Images)

“I think Van definitely evolved a lot after our fight,” Pantoja said. “He had the fight against Tatsuro Taira; I think he evolved and corrected some mistakes he made in that fight. So I think it’s going to be completely different.”

Pantoja doesn’t consider himself the same fighter who will face Van.

“The drive is always the same,” Pantoja said. “I’ve had the same drive since I was a kid — I’ve always wanted to fight the best fighters in the world. The drive is the same; it’s just that I think I’m much more mature now.”

Pantoja said Van is a top-tier fighter, but he believes the injury prevented both of them from showing everything they were capable of.

“He’s an incredible fighter,” said Pantoja, 36. “When you watch Joshua Van fight, his expression never changes — he always tries to stay in control. And that proves just how good you are.”

Although Pantoja officially lost that night, the injury changed the course of the fight before it could truly get underway.

“I injured my arm. I know that, as an athlete, I lost that fight, and now I have the opportunity to fight world champion Joshua Van — and that’s what I want. I want him at his best because I’m at my best too,” Pantoja said.

Tensions have escalated since their first encounter.

At a news conference in August in Los Angeles, the fighters got into an exchange that forced UFC president Dana White to intervene. Pantoja stood up from his seat after Van interrupted him, but the situation did not escalate into a physical confrontation.

“As far as I’m concerned, I’m his dad,” Van said. “He was being respectful before the fight, and I don’t know what he’s doing in interviews and stuff like that to make me look like the bad guy.”

Pantoja offered a different explanation.

“He does a very good job,” Pantoja said. “He needed a lesson. When I stood up, I tried to teach him a lesson. I’m from the ‘90s. Back then, if you didn’t respect your mother or father, you’d get a slap.”

Despite the disagreement, both have shown respect for their opponent’s skills. Van described Pantoja as a “very, very dangerous” fighter.

“He’s going to be motivated, he’s going to be hungrier, and I think this will be the best Pantoja we’ll see,” Van said. “So I’m very well prepared for this fight.”

Pantoja, for his part, knows he’s facing a champion who’s already had the chance to prove he can go the distance for five rounds. The Brazilian also viewed Van’s fight against Taira as a source of insight for his preparation.

“An incredible fight, very good,” Pantoja said of his 24-year-old opponent. “I think it’s a good fight for all the fans. It showed me something, but I know Joshua Van is very young and can fix a lot of things from that fight.”

For the Brazilian, the goal this weekend is clear.

“At the end of the day, what matters is the victory,” said Pantoja. “However it plays out — whether it’s by decision, split decision, KO or submission — I think the closer we get to the fight, the less those things matter. The closer we get to the fight, the championship doesn’t matter anymore, the money doesn’t matter — all that really matters is the win.”

Van doesn’t expect to let the fight go to the scorecards.

“I don’t think it’ll go five rounds; I’ll finish it within the first three rounds,” he said confidently. “It’ll be by knockout or submission, but I’m leaning more toward a knockout.”

If Pantoja regains the championship, he would become only the third flyweight champion in UFC history to reclaim the belt after losing it, joining Deiveson Figueiredo and Brandon Moreno.

For the Brazilian, returning to Los Angeles also holds personal significance. He recalled that it was the first city he visited when he arrived in the United States in 2014 and that, back then, he slept in a gym.

Now he’ll return as a title challenger in the main event of UFC 331.

“It’s so nice that people see where I started here and see how far I’ve come,” Pantoja recalled. “For me, the best part is being the same guy I was when I arrived here in 2014; I’m the same guy right now, and I’m very happy and proud of myself.”