SEATTLE – When Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith threw a ball off his back foot into the end zone, Kamren Kinchens dropped off his man in the flat to play the ball. And when he caught it on his knees for his first career interception, Kinchens could have just stayed down and taken the touchback. But he wanted more.
Kinchens got up, and sprinted out of the end zone. He streaked up the sideline, leaving Seahawks players in the dust, and then cut back to the middle past Smith. Kinchens went untouched for a 103-yard return to give the Rams the lead in the fourth quarter. The Rams' longest pick-six in franchise history gave them their first lead since the second quarter, and Los Angeles won it in overtime, 26-20.
"Soon as I caught it, I didn't see nobody in front of me. It was time to run. I just blanked out and just went to run it," Kinchens said. "... We made a point of emphasis in the meeting on Friday about (not) dropping the ball before you get to the end zone, so I wasn't sure where I was in the end zone... So I dropped the ball, I made sure to run to it and pick it up before I did anything else."
He jokingly said that because Seahawks wide receiver DK Metcalf wasn't on the field, he wasn't worried about getting run down from behind.
Kinchens, a rookie third-round pick out of Miami, hasn't been a staple of the Rams' defense this season. He only played over 50% of snaps once coming into Sunday's game against the Seahawks and his role had been diminished over the past two weeks. He wasn't an every-down player in Seattle, but made every snap count, finishing with two interceptions, both in the red zone, and two tackles in the victory.
After cornerback Josh Wallace exited the game with an injury in the second quarter, Kinchens was used more frequently. Safety Kam Curl being a bit banged up also gave him more opportunity. But even when Wallace returned late in the fourth, the Rams still rolled Kinchens out there to ride his momentum.
Two drives after the pick-six, Seattle was back inside the 20-yard line following a blocked punt. On second-and-goal from the 4-yard line, Smith rolled to his right and misfired. The intended target, tight end A.J. Barner, got caught up with defensive tackle Braden Fiske as he attempted to clear the formation behind the line of scrimmage. Once again, Kinchens was there to capitalize.
He dove forward to corral his second interception of the game and secured it for another crunch-time turnover.
Kinchens didn't play against Green Bay in Week 6, played just two snaps against the Raiders in Week 7 and then 14 in Week 8. But he kept grinding and it paid off when he was called upon to play a bigger role.
"Big shout out to (safeties) coach (Chris) Beake and (defensive pass game coordinator Aubrey Pleasant). They told me not to be down on it," Kinchens said. "(They said), 'You know, you're a rookie. It's gonna come ups and downs and just get back in the playbook.' There was nothing they said I did wrong for real, just kind of mental plays, you know, just something some rookies have, but just stay grinding, you know. And we just met extra, just met more. So when my opportunity did come, I was able to shine," Kinchens said.
The Seahawks made a miraculous comeback in the fourth quarter to send it to overtime, but the Rams made a stop and then marched down the field to win it on a walk-off touchdown. Without Kinchens' clutch plays, the Rams might not have come out of Seattle with a win.
One of the keys to winning this game was to create and capitalize on turnovers, as Seattle's offense had the fifth-most entering the game. Kinchens did both of those all on his lonesome.
"Those are two huge plays that we had to have, or I'm not sitting here feeling the way that I do," said head coach Sean McVay.
