Emmanuel Forbes Puts In Historic Performance Against Buccaneers

WOODLAND HILLS, Ca. The Los Angeles Rams have a star in Emmanuel Forbes and his latest performance proves why he's simply one of the best.

Forbes Has His Confidence Back

While we've seen Forbes make massive strides since joining the Rams last season, he was at his best against Tampa Bay, putting in the best performance of his career. A week after locking up both Jaxon Smith-Njigba and Rashid Shaheed, Forbes responded with a surgical performance, establishing both Cobie Durant and himself as one of the premier cornerback duos in the NFL.

For a season in which many clamored for the Rams to trade for a cornerback, the team put their trust in their guys and the Rams were right. On Sunday night, despite constantly getting tested, Forbes declared his zone clear of threats as he did something not witnessed in three years.

"Emmanuel Forbes faced seven targets and did not allow a single reception against the Buccaneers," stated NFL Next Gen Stats. "No defender since Week 12, 2022 has been targeted more times without allowing a catch. Forbes recorded a career-high 5 passes defensed in the win."

Chris Shula on His Cornerbacks

Both Forbes and Durant were sublime on Sunday with both men breaking up passes constantly while they both secured interceptions, helping put the game to bed in the first half.

Earlier in the week, Rams defensive coordinator Chris Shula spoke on the development of their cornerback room and how they handle rotations, making sure to incorporate Darious Williams into their game plan.

“It's just development," stated Shula. "It’s funny, we were just talking at the walkthrough because when ‘D-Will’ [Darious Williams] got here. I think it was 2018, his rookie year, [Former Rams Cornerbacks] Aqib [Talib] and Marcus [Peters] took him under their wings and those guys were the guys that mentored him."

"Now you see him doing that with [Cornerback Emmanuel] Forbes and with Cobie. They all just support each other. We can either ride with the hot hand and Aubrey controls the rotation. We have a plan going in the game and we have a plan going into the week. They're really happy for each other's success and that's really cool to see.”

Replacing Lake

Forbes' top marks comes on the night the Rams needed a big time performance. Without team captain Quentin Lake by his side, the Buccaneers felt Forbes would be easy to exploit for short yardage. Forbes was in the zone and for the first time in his NFL career, Forbes displayed the precision in every moment needed to confirm he's no longer working his way back, he's now one of the NFL's best.

“[Cornerback Roger] McCreary ended up getting his groin a little bit earlier in the game so he didn't play as many snaps as maybe we thought he would," stated Rams head coach Sean McVay after the game on replacing lake. [Cornerback] Josh Wallace, all he does is answer the bell. He's so steady. He's so reliable. You don't ever replace a Quentin Lake. I love ‘Q’. His teammates love him. His coaches love him. I think there's an understanding and an appreciation of, alright, let's have great communication verbally and non-verbally in the noise."

"Let's not be anything other than who we are. I thought the guys played really well. Collectively, it's the best team sport that there is. That's what you love so much about football. Josh did his part tonight, but I thought our defense as a whole was outstanding. You don't ever replace ‘Q’, and I know he was cheering his ass off watching these guys, as was [Tight End Tyler] Higbee. It was great to be able to have [Offensive Lineman] Rob [Havenstein] here.”

Even when McCreary went down, Forbes refused to surrender a single yard.

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