SANTA CLARA, Calif. – In this season and previous seasons, Rams inside linebacker Nate Landman and cornerback Emmanuel Forbes Jr. have put on tape a knack for creating turnovers.
That magnetism for takeaways displayed itself again in Week 10, as Landman notched his third forced fumble of the season and Forbes his second-consecutive game with an interception in Los Angeles' 42-26 road victory over the San Francisco 49ers at Levi's Stadium.
"First and foremost, I want to thank God for putting this vision to talk to you guys and come out of the game healthy," Landman said. "The punch out, we're playing a vision zone, (he) threw the in route, and like I said, always looking for the ball. I saw him trying to break and tackle. That's kind of when you're hunting those opportunities, threw the shot, and it came out."
"My old coach used to tell me (interceptions) come in bunches, so you might as well catch them when they come your way," Forbes said.
Landman's punch-out forced fumble came late in the first quarter after the Rams had taken a 14-0 lead. The change of possession directly led to a touchdown-scoring drive by the offense to extend L.A.'s lead to 21-0 early in the second quarter.
Midway through the fourth quarter, Forbes' juggling interception on a Mac Jones pass intended for Christian McCaffrey also set up a touchdown-scoring drive, one that expanded the Rams' lead to 42-20 and effectively put the game out of reach.
"So happy for him," Landman said of Forbes. "He's continued to streak. That's two now. Now we got expectation to get another one every game. Super at home. Guy grinds in practice, works hard, comes to work every day, and you can see that fruits of his labor are coming to life."
Those kinds of complementary plays have had an integral role in the Rams' 7-2 start to the season, and more of them will be needed this Sunday against a Seahawks offense that matched its season-high for points in a 44-22 win over the Cardinals last week.
"I thought the defense did an excellent job as well, making the stops when they had to," head coach Sean McVay said. "What a cool job, Emmanuel Forbes (Jr.) gets another pick on a fourth down. And it's awesome just to be able to see guys celebrate each other's successes."
