What the Rams Defense Showcased vs. Seahawks

The Rams had their young secondary shine on Sunday with four interceptions of Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold. It has been an inconsistent group this season, and no one expected this group to be a strength in Week 11, but they came to play in a big way, putting Darnold in all sorts of issues in the secondary. Let's look closer to see how the two stars of Sunday, cornerback Cobie Durant and safety Kamren Kinchens, stepped up.

The Seahawks are in 12 personnel with the Rams running Cover 1 robber shaded toward Jaxon Smith-Njigba, and Emmanuel Forbes is playing man against him on the vertical. Durant is matched up with Cooper Kupp at the top of the screen, right above the numbers, and does a swell job of playing sticky on Kupp with patient footwork at the line of scrimmage, staying at the hip pocket, and, in essence, running the route for Kupp.

Kinchens begins to lean into the eyes of Darnold and works over the top as he is pressured and forced to throw it. Durant would’ve had a great defended pass, but Kinchens does a great job reading the eyes and attacking the ball for his first interception of the year.

This is a great repetition from Durant on Smith-Njigba. Durant is playing off-trail coverage against the out. He reads the eyes of Darnold and changes direction to get leverage on the receiver and the throw. Durant times the break perfectly and undercuts Smith-Njigba for the interception, a similar one he made on a similar concept against the Vikings when Darnold was sacked nine times against the Rams in the NFC Wild Card game.

 Similar to his first interception, Kinchens is shaded toward Smith-Njigba. Look how he stays over the top of him and tight end Elijah Arroyo–he offers the ability to attack both patterns with the three-by-two advantage in a triangle spacing. Once again, Darnold is baited into throwing the seam, but Kinchens sits and drives to undercut the throw, securing his second interception of the game.

There is an argument that Durant is beginning to turn a corner, so to speak, and could emerge as one of the team's best defensive backs soon. The consistency must remain, but the flashes are there.

As for Kinchens, the Rams have their ball-hawk defender who can be an interchangeable player in the secondary and attack the ball from any level of the defense. So far, he's becoming a stout selection from the Rams 2024 draft class..

Byron Young’s disruptiveness grows

Watching Young transform into an outstanding edge rusher has been a great sight to see for the Rams.

Only several years ago, he was working at a Dollar General, believing his football career was over, and has now developed into one of the most important pieces of Los Angeles’ defense thanks to the exceptional coaching and development done by defensive coordinator Chris Shula and his staff. Coming out of Tennessee, Young wasn’t known as a quality run defender but had the frame to build on his mass and add more strength to win the point of attack, which would add a new element to his skill set.

For the last couple of seasons, Young has only been known for his pass rush prowess in situational late downs, where he would attack the quarterback. In Year 3, he quickly grew into an all-around quality pure edge rusher with added explosion in his frame and play strength to latch, extend, shed-blocks, and set the edge more invariably. This was on full display against the Seahawks.

Watch him in the clips below take on blockers with force and penetrate the line of scrimmage. While he did not record a sack, Young tallied five pressures and five run stops, according to Next Gen Stats. I loved how in the first clip how Young can keep his outside shoulder free on this counter concept and wrap up Zach Charbonnet for a minimal gain; then, on the next clip, he takes on left guard Grey Zabel with force, wins his at the point of attack, and holds Kenneth Walker to another short gain.

Add in his explosiveness, bend, pass rush prowess, and his ability to corner and extend for the ball for strips, and Young has quickly allowed the Rams to have one of the best pass rush duos in the NFL alongside Jared Verse.

Quick-hitting takeaways

• Second-year edge rusher Jared Verse didn't record a sack, but he did rack up seven pressures, including a near-sack on Darnold that was reversed to an incomplete pass. Sometimes, you'd like to see Verse transition some of his pressures into multi-sack performances. Regardless, he is a special player who is one of the best players on the team with incredible violence, speed, and power.

• Linebacker Nate Landman is consistently around the football. He's tied for the NFL's lead with two other defenders for the most forced fumbles and is becoming an excellent bargain for the Rams after signing a "prove-it" deal in the offseason. Landman is a smart player, and while he isn't an elite coverage defender, he's reliable in the run game with quality fits, penetration skills, and sideline-to-sideline range.

• I was impressed with the Rams' ability to penetrate the line of scrimmage and win in their rush attempts despite no sacks. Kobie Turner remains a force in the middle of this defense, while Braden Fiske and Poona Ford match with their skill sets on penetration and pressure-making in either facet. This is arguably the best defensive front in the league, and there is no slowing them down anytime soon.

Be sure you follow us on X (formerly Twitter) @RamsInsideronSI and @BrockVierra. Please let us know your thoughts when you like our Facebook page, WHEN YOU CLICK RIGHT HERE.