The NFL has named St. Louis Rams rookie Greg Zuerlein its special-teams player of the week for the NFC.
No surprise there.
Zuerlein connected from 24, 48, 58 and 60 yards during the Rams' 19-13 victory over Seattle in Week 4. He has made all 12 attempts this season.
Zuerlein's exceptional range is changing the way St. Louis manages a game.
One big change for the Rams, according to John McTigue of ESPN Stats & Information: The Rams have attempted field goals (and made them) on all three drives ending between their opponents' 42- and 32-yard lines. These drives produce field goal attempts ranging from 50 to 60 yards. The Rams attempted field goals only 10.5 percent of the time on these drives all last season, making zero of them.
Zuerlein is converting punts into points. Kevin Seifert and I will discuss the full ramifications during our "Inside Slant" podcast later Wednesday. Zuerlein already might be the difference between 2-2 and 0-4 for St. Louis.
Perhaps he should have appeared on the MVP Watch list.