Zimbabwe’s Nate Landman is a human wrecking ball for the Los Angeles Rams

By ESPN

Zimbabwe’s Nate Landman set a franchise tackles record for the Los Angeles Rams in their 17-3 win over the Baltimore Ravens as Week 6 saw African players dominate on defence.

The Seattle Seahawks‘ Jaxon Smith-Njigba was the one shining light on offense this week, but after coming flying out of the blocks at the start of the season, wide receivers with ties to the continent generally had a more quiet round.

Arguably more than any before, this week showed that the NFL’s attempts to grow the sport in Africa are bearing fruit – both in terms of developments on and off the field.

The impenetrable Landman – born in Harare – set a Rams franchise record with 17 total tackles in their win over the Ravens, including a quarterback hit and eight solo tackles.

A convert from rugby, former Colorado Buffaloes linebacker Landman had arguably the best game of his American football career in the Rams’ win.

His defining moment came on the stroke of half-time, as he contributed to two crucial stops within 10 yards of the end zone, as well as another earlier tackle in the same drive which saw the Rams held up over the course of eight plays.

At the time, the scores were deadlocked at 3-3. The Rams defence, led by Landman, prevented the Ravens from taking control at a crucial point in the game. In the third quarter, the Rams themselves took charge and never looked back.

“What a stop by our guys, really buckling up there,” Landman told Tom Brady for Fox Sports after the legendary quarterback selected him as his LFG Player of the Game.

“That’s the pride of the defence right there, how you play goal line, and we rose up to the occasion. Way to set the tone for the rest of the game.”