'God Had a Different Plan': Kelly Stafford's Caption About the Missed Kicks Is Going Viral — and Fans Are Split

Kelly Stafford never named Harrison Mevis. She did not have to. Days after the Los Angeles Rams cut their kicker following two missed field goals in a Monday Night Football loss to Buffalo, the Rams quarterback's wife posted game-day photos with a caption about a ball that did not go through the uprights — and the internet read it instantly as a shot at the released kicker. By Sunday morning, October 18, the caption was still going viral, with a second Kelly Stafford post about the grind of NFL travel drawing its own backlash on top of it.

What Kelly Stafford actually said

In an Instagram post on Friday morning, Kelly Stafford shared photos of herself and her four daughters from Monday night's game. Her caption read: "God had a different plan than having that ball go through the uprights, but whatever the plan is, we trust it. The plan does, however, always include cute fits."

She never named Mevis or mentioned a kicker. That is why it travelled: readers connected the timing and the phrase "that ball" themselves — almost everyone did, within hours of Mevis losing his job.

What happened in the game

The background is a brutal night for a kicker. The Rams lost to the Buffalo Bills 37-34 in overtime on Monday, October 12. Mevis missed a 50-yard field goal in the first quarter, then had a potential game-winning kick blocked in overtime. Los Angeles released him the following day and signed Blake Grupe as his replacement.

• Final score: Bills 37, Rams 34, in overtime on Monday Night Football.
• The misses: a 50-yard miss in the first quarter and a potential game-winner blocked in overtime.
• The season line: Mevis made 5 of 9 field goals this season — 55.6%, which the New York Post noted ranked 32nd in the NFL — with all four misses coming from beyond 40 yards.
• The change: the Rams cut Mevis and signed Blake Grupe, who is now in line to kick for Los Angeles against Arizona on Sunday.

A season earlier, Mevis had made 12 of 13 field goals and all 39 extra points, per Total Pro Sports — which is why a two-miss night, a release, and a viral caption landed as one continuous story.

Why it's blowing up

Three things are fuelling this. First, timing: the caption landed Friday, while the release was still fresh, so even a faith-centred line read as pointed. Second, deniability: because Mevis was never named, defenders can say Kelly meant her own family's disappointment, while critics say the reference was unmistakable — and both argue in the same threads. Third, a second post widened it: Kelly also spoke about how hard travelling to games is, a clip shared by MLFootball on October 16 that drew fresh reaction, with Sportskeeda rounding up fans calling it out of touch and one widely shared response reading, "Nobody feels sorry for her."

The Spun's fresh coverage on the morning of October 18 put the two threads together, noting Kelly has gone viral before for podcast and social-media comments mid-season. She posts in her own voice, not like a team press release — and that is part of why her posts travel.

A fair reading of both sides

The critical reading: a kicker had just lost his job after a public failure, and a caption about the ball not going through the uprights was always going to land on him. The sympathetic reading: Kelly named no one, assessed no one's kicking, and framed the night around her family's faith and her daughters' outfits. Both can be true — which is why this is still being argued about two days later. And one distinction matters: the post was not a statement from Matthew Stafford, and the Rams had already made their call on football grounds before it appeared.

What's next

On the field, Grupe kicks against the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday, and every stalled Rams drive will test whether the change worked. Off it, watch whether Kelly addresses the reaction on her podcast — she has responded to viral moments before — or lets the next game-day post move the conversation on.

Sources

• New York Post — Kelly Stafford takes pointed jab at ex-Rams kicker Harrison Mevis
• The Spun — Matthew Stafford's wife Kelly facing backlash for social media behavior
• Total Pro Sports — Kelly Stafford's shot at former kicker Harrison Mevis
• Sportskeeda — "God had a different plan": Kelly Stafford seemingly takes shots at Harrison Mevis

FAQ

What did Kelly Stafford say about Harrison Mevis?

She never named him. In a Friday Instagram post with photos from the Bills game, she wrote that "God had a different plan than having that ball go through the uprights," a line widely read as a reference to Mevis's two missed kicks.

Why did the Rams release Harrison Mevis?

Mevis missed a 50-yard field goal and had a potential game-winner blocked in overtime in a 37-34 loss to Buffalo on October 12. He was 5 of 9 on field goals this season, and the Rams released him the next day and signed Blake Grupe.

Why is Kelly Stafford facing backlash this week?

Two posts combined: the "different plan" caption, read as a jab at a just-released kicker, and separate comments about how hard travelling to NFL games is, which some fans called out of touch. Coverage of the backlash was still running on the morning of October 18.

Who is the Rams' kicker now?

Blake Grupe. The Rams signed him after releasing Mevis, and he is set to kick for Los Angeles against the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday.