On cue for 2020, kicker Matt Gay returns to torment old team The sight of one-time beleaguered Bucs kicker Matt Gay warming up for the Rams prior to Monday night's game should have served as a harbinger of the haunt job he'd pull a few hours later. In a scene befitting 2020, Gay - making his Rams debut after tormenting the Tampa Bay fan base last autumn - coolly delivered the winning 40-yard field goal with 2:36 remaining. "You can't write it," Gay told reporters afterward. "It's one of those stories. You're sitting on practice squad, and the first game you're going back to where you were last year and the place that you know you feel you should have been. Feels great." The third kicker employed by Los Angeles this season, Gay missed eight of his 35 field-goal attempts for the Bucs last season, perhaps none more excruciating than his 34-yard chip shot as time expired in a 32-31 loss to the Giants. He was waived in September to make room for veteran Ryan Succop and joined the Colts practice squad 10 days later. He signed with the Rams a week ago to replace injured kicker Kai Forbath. He hit a 38-yard field goal on the first half's final play Monday to give the Rams a 17-14 lead, but had a 44-yarder sail wide right in the third. "Kind of a crazy story coming back to Tampa," he said. "Played here last year, and it was a lot of emotions. I thought I hit that (miss) good. Just drifted right on me, but I went to the sidelines and focused on what I did right and made sure I was focused on the next play." Joey Knight, Tampa Bay Times, published 24 November 2020