INGLEWOOD, Calif. – Once upon a time – in high school, to be exact – current Rams defensive end Kobie Turner played tight end.
He put that catching experience to good use last week with his first career interception in last week's game against the Seahawks.
"That was crazy," Turner said Friday. "Atually, before the play, I just chased down (Seattle quarterback) Sam Darnold, and I was tired. Something told me, third down, they're going to call the play where I drop and the ball's gonna come right to me. Everything kind of slowed down. It's like in those edits, they throw the ball and it just zooms in on the football. ... It was the prettiest spiral I've ever seen. Caught that thing, tried to get going. I think it was (Seahawks offensive lineman Grey) Zabel, once he kind of altered me a little bit, I was like, 'I'm just gonna go down.' I didn't even want to celebrate. I was just on the ground, like, yeah. And then they picked me up. But yeah it was an incredible moment."
Overall, it was a multi-faceted performance for Turner, who also added 1.5 sacks, two QB hits, three total tackles (two for loss) and two passes defensed to his stat line in the loss.
Turner has consistently made an impact as a "finisher" for Los Angeles' defense over the last five games, with 5.5 sacks in that stretch. So while his presence has been felt on the pass rush, making that kind of play to affect the passer was equally enjoyable.
Turner's interception came when the Seahawks were in the red zone, and those kinds of stops will be needed once again going against a Falcons offense whose 64.4% redzone touchdown rate is currently fifth-highest in the NFL.
"He's a finisher," defensive coordinator Chris Shula said last week. "We've said that since his rookie year and why he's had the numbers that he's had. He's always been able to work edges. It's like one of those guys, we say it all the time, he doesn't have a lot of bad plays, very few bad plays. He's consistent. Every single time you better account for him and if you're not on it, if you settle up a little bit, then he's going to beat you. If he gets a chance, he's going to finish."
