Rams rookie Kamren Kinchens' stunning season benchmark makes first NFL touchdown all the more spectacular
The Los Angeles Rams were staring down the barrel of a fourth-quarter deficit with just over 11 minutes remaining of their divisional matchup with the Seattle Seahawks. Then rookie Kamren Kinchens completely flipped the script. Seattle had the ball on the Los Angeles six-yard line after a questionable pass interference penalty on Rams corner Ahkello […]
The Los Angeles Rams were staring down the barrel of a fourth-quarter deficit with just over 11 minutes remaining of their divisional matchup with the Seattle Seahawks. Then rookie Kamren Kinchens completely flipped the script.
Seattle had the ball on the Los Angeles six-yard line after a questionable pass interference penalty on Rams corner Ahkello Witherspoon had allowed the Seahawks to move the ball into the redzone.
But the Rams, and more specifically Kinchens, refused to allow the Seahawks to take advantage of a dubious penalty.
Kinchens was given a relatively simple task of intercepting Geno Smith as the Seattle quarterback heaved the ball into his grasp under pressure from Byron Young, but it was what the rookie safety did afterwards that was much more spectacular.
Then fourth-round pick took the ball back 103 yards for a touchdown to give the Rams a 20-13 lead, marking both the longest interception return in Rams history and the longest play in the NFL this season. It also saw Kinchens set another season benchmark.
Indeed, Kinchens traveled 128.3 yards from snap to score, the longest distance by any ball-carrier this season, per NextGen Stats.
That is an extremely impressive feat for a safety that came into the league with questions about his speed, and Kinchens followed it up by claiming a second interception of Smith, this one also coming in the red zone as he dove low to pick off an attempted throw to AJ Barner as the tight end leaked out across the formation.
With the Seahawks scoring a late fourth-quarter touchdown to tie the game at 20-20, the Rams still had a lot of work to do to improve to 4-4, including stopping Seattle on fourth down when the hosts elected to go for it on fourth-and-1 from well inside field goal range.
But they never would have been in a position to make that stop and then win the game on a walk-off touchdown pass from Matthew Stafford to Demarcus Robinson without Kinchens' incredible show of speed and endurance.
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