The Los Angeles Rams hosted the Houston Texans on Sunday at SoFi Stadium for a Week 1 matchup that resulted in a 14-9 win for Sean McVay’s team, allowing them to keep pace in the division with the Arizona Cardinals and San Francisco 49ers, who also won their games earlier in the day.

Los Angeles didn’t play their best football, but when they were looking for someone to step up, linebacker Nate Landman did just that, punching out a ball from Texans running back Dare Ogunbowale’s hands and stopping Houston’s late comebacker effort in its tracks.

After the game, Landman spoke to reporters about the clutch moment.

“We’re down in the red zone. It’s getting to be a long drive, and we always preach turnovers in our defensive meetings, team meetings,” Landman said. “I saw the opportunity and took it, and the punch worked out. It’s something we’ve been working on, so I’m glad it paid off for the team.”

Landman Came to Rams From Falcons

The 26-year-old signed a one-year, $1.1 million deal with the Rams this offseason after spending his first three seasons with the Atlanta Falcons, and for him to impact the team’s first game of the season that much was huge.

“It meant so much,” Landman said. “I actually kinda blacked out when it happened. My instinct was to run to my teammates on the sideline and celebrate with them because I can’t do that without the rest of the guys on the team. It was just a great moment for us, for the Rams.”

The linebacker didn’t go on the field looking to punch the ball out, but he knew exactly what he needed to do as the play developed.

“When I saw him coming across to me, and I already had a vice tackle with my guy to my left, that’s when you have to take your opportunities,” Landman explained.

Landman’s First NFL Regular-Season Appearance

Despite this being Landman’s fourth year in the league, Sunday’s battle against the Seahawks was his first regular-season action, but his ability to force a fumble was noted throughout camp, and he credits the work that they do in practice.

“We practice it every day,” Landman noted. “Every team drill, we practice it. In individual, we’ve been doing it since OTAs, since camp. Good-on-good, against the ones, against the twos, whatever it is, but it’s something we working on every day and we preach in the meeting room pretty much every day… It’s just repetition in practice, getting used to it. The more you throw, the more you’re going to connect, so taking those opportunities when they arise.”

If Los Angeles can get those type of game-changing plays from role players like Landman this year, they’ll be in good hands.

This article originally appeared on Rams Wire: Rams’ Week 1 hero recounts game-saving play in win over Texans

Reporting by Mike Masala, Rams Wire / Rams Wire

USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect