{"id":145822,"date":"2026-01-23T04:49:08","date_gmt":"2026-01-23T04:49:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/145822\/"},"modified":"2026-01-23T04:49:08","modified_gmt":"2026-01-23T04:49:08","slug":"rams-eager-to-force-turnovers-on-sam-darnold-and-seahawks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/145822\/","title":{"rendered":"Rams eager to force turnovers on Sam Darnold and Seahawks"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Kobie Turner<\/a> makes his living as a pass rusher and run defender for the Rams, not a defensive back.<\/p>\n

But the last time the Rams played the Seattle Seahawks<\/a>, the third-year defensive lineman snatched a Sam Darnold<\/a> pass near the goal line for his first career interception.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was like time almost stopped,\u201d Turner recalled Thursday. \u201cIt was a perfect spiral. It was beautiful.\u201d<\/p>\n

Turner\u2019s turnover was one of seven the Rams<\/a> forced in two games this season against the Seahawks, including six interceptions.<\/p>\n

Of the Rams\u2019 16 interceptions this season, more than a third came against the Seahawks.<\/p>\n

The Rams aim to continue their torrent of takeaways against the Seahawks on Sunday<\/a> when they play in the NFC championship game at Lumen Field.<\/p>\n

Four of second-year safety Kam Kinchens<\/a>\u2019 six career interceptions came against the Seahawks, including two in the first matchup between the teams this season.<\/p>\n

\u201cUsually, you hope a guy doesn\u2019t make the same mistake twice,\u201d Kinchens said of Darnold. \u201cIn my case, I\u2019m hoping he makes the same mistake twice, because that\u2019s more picks for me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Are the Seahawks his favorite team to play against?<\/p>\n

\u201cYes,\u201d Kinchens said, \u201cBecause they like to test the secondary. They have good receivers and Sam Darnold wants to throw the ball down the field and push it down the field.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s a lot of opportunities, and I love when I get to show people my receiver skills.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Rams <\/p>\n

Rams cornerback Cobie Durant runs with the ball after intercepting a pass against the Chicago Bears in the divisional playoffs on Sunday.<\/p>\n

(Eric Thayer \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n

Cornerback Cobie Durant, nicknamed \u201cThe Land Shark,\u201d intercepted three passes during the regular season, including one against the Seahawks.<\/p>\n

Durant intercepted a pass in a wild-card victory over the Carolina Panthers<\/a>, and he picked off two passes in last Sunday\u2019s divisional-round victory over the Chicago Bears.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Land Shark shows up when you need him the most,\u201d coach Sean McVay said.<\/p>\n

The key, Durant said, is the combination of pressure from the Rams front and ball-hawking skills of the secondary.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo rush,\u201d Durant said. \u201cNo picks.\u201d<\/p>\n

Turner, edge rushers Jared Verse and Byron Young<\/a> and linemen Braden Fiske<\/a> and Poona Ford will be on the spot on Sunday as they attempt to slow down Darnold, running back Kenneth Walker III and receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba among others.<\/p>\n

If the front can get to Darnold, whether for a pressure, quarterback hit or sack, \u201che knows that we\u2019re coming,\u201d Verse said. \u201cHe knows that he\u2019s going to feel us, and that makes any quarterback cautious, no matter who you are.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Rams <\/p>\n

Rams defensive end Braden Fiske (55) and linebacker Byron Young (0) close in on Seattle Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold during a Rams win in November.<\/p>\n

(Robert Gauthier\/Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n

In a Week 11 game against the Seahawks at SoFi Stadium, the Rams intercepted four passes in a 21-19 victory that was not assured until Jason Myers\u2019 61-yard field-goal attempt on the final play fell short.<\/p>\n

Kinchens intercepted two passes, and Durant and cornerback Darious Williams each intercepted one.<\/p>\n

Five weeks later at Lumen Field, the Seahawks defeated the Rams 38-37 in overtime. The Rams led by 16 points in the fourth quarter but could not hold off the Seahawks.<\/p>\n

Turner and cornerback Josh Wallace intercepted passes, but Darnold completed 22 of 34 passes for 270 yards and two touchdowns and also converted two two-point conversion passes.<\/p>\n

Now comes the third game between the NFC West rivals.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think either of us are going to be tricking each other,\u201d Rams defensive coordinator Chris Shula said.<\/p>\n

The Rams must slow down a Seahawks offense that was at full throttle in last Sunday\u2019s 41-6 divisional-round victory over the San Francisco 49ers.<\/p>\n

Walker ran for 116 yards and three touchdowns. But Seahawks running back Zach Charbonnet suffered a season-ending knee injury.<\/p>\n

Darnold completed 12 of 17 passes for 124 yards and a touchdown. Smith-Njigba caught three passes, one for a touchdown.<\/p>\n

Crowds at Lumen Field are among the NFL\u2019s loudest, so the Rams are expecting another one at full volume on Sunday.<\/p>\n

Safety Kam Curl, whose interception in overtime against the Bears set up the game-winning field goal, noted that the crowd in Seattle quiets when the Seahawks offense is on the field.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s good for us,\u201d he said. \u201cWe get to make all our checks and our communication. They think they\u2019re helping the offense but they\u2019re really helping us too.\u201d<\/p>\n

Turner said Darnold showed his mettle by directing the game-winning drive against the Rams the last time they visited Lumen Field. \u201cHe\u2019s a tough quarterback,\u201d he said. \u201cA veteran experienced guy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Turner would like to experience another interception.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf Sam wants to throw me another pass,\u201d he quipped, \u201cI would recommend throwing another spiral just like that one because it was beautiful.\u201d<\/p>\n

Etc.<\/p>\n

Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford is a finalist for NFL most valuable player and receiver Puka Nacua is a finalist for offensive player of the year. Stafford led the league with 46 touchdown passes and 4,707 yards passing. Nacua led the NFL with 129 receptions. MVP finalists: Stafford, Buffalo quarterback Josh Allen, Jacksonville quarterback Trevor Lawrence, New England quarterback Drake Maye and San Francisco running back Christian McCaffrey. Offensive player of the year finalists: Nacua, Maye, McCaffrey, Atlanta running back Bijan Robinson and Smith-Njigba. \u2026 The Rams designated offensive lineman Rob Havenstein to return from injured reserve. Havenstein has not played since the Nov. 16 game against the Seahawks.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Kobie Turner makes his living as a pass rusher and run defender for the Rams, not a defensive…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":145823,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[72726,72727,423,19830,29917,48,52,51,8844,47,50,49,54023,772,11706,10947,54021,11599,278,780,1539],"class_list":["post-145822","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-los-angeles","tag-durant","tag-finalist","tag-game","tag-interception","tag-kobie-turner","tag-la","tag-la-headlines","tag-la-news","tag-last-time","tag-los-angeles","tag-los-angeles-headlines","tag-los-angeles-news","tag-lumen-field","tag-pass","tag-ram","tag-rams","tag-sam-darnold","tag-seahawks","tag-season","tag-touchdown","tag-yard"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/145822","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=145822"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/145822\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/145823"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=145822"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=145822"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=145822"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}