EARTH CITY, Mo. -- In the immediate aftermath of Sunday's 23-17 win against the Seattle Seahawks, St. Louis Rams center Tim Barnes was twice asked questions that jarred him back to memories of his days at Pettis County Northwest High in Hughesville, Missouri.

Barnes had just recovered two fumbles in a span of three plays on a fourth-quarter drive that ultimately gave the Rams the decisive six points, two hustle plays that earned him a game ball from head coach Jeff Fisher. Barnes was also basking in the glow of the Rams' first win in Seattle since Jan. 8, 2005.

Asked when the last time he touched the ball in a game other than his regular snapping duties, Barnes had to hop in the way back machine.

Tim Barnes' fumble recoveries helped the Rams earn their first win in Seattle since 2005. Joe Nicholson/USA TODAY Sports

“Not since I was in high school and I had to do emergency running back," Barnes said. "That was a long time ago. We had run out of guys. Let’s see, that year I was a freshman, so I was probably only 20 pounds lighter and the same height. I was a big kid in high school.”

Indeed, that was a long time ago, which is also a similar timeframe to when the Rams last beat the Seahawks on their home field.

"Yes, I was a junior in high school," Barnes said. "It means a lot. Especially what’s happened this year, the last four or five weeks, what’s been going on. We as an O-line, I thought we played really well today."

While the actual evaluation of how the offensive line played will offer a better insight on who played the best, it'd be hard to argue that any of the front five came up with more important plays than Barnes' two recoveries.

After Seattle scored to make it 16-10, the Rams' lead appeared to be in peril early in the fourth quarter. On third-and-1 at Seattle's 40, running back Benny Cunningham burst through the hole for a conversion but lost the ball as he tried to move the pile. The ball squirted ahead another 5 yards where it looked like Seattle safety Earl Thomas was going to recover. But Barnes dived in at the last second and successfully wrestled it away.

Despite some confusion, the officials eventually got the call right as Barnes held on for dear life.

"You are the bottom of the pile and you’re just trying to do whatever you can to get the ball and luckily I had just left enough in me to keep a hold of it," Barnes said. "And the refs saw it well enough to know I had the ball."

Crisis was averted for the moment, but two plays later, running back Todd Gurley burst off left tackle, leaping over a defender for a gain of 20 yards before he, too, lost the ball at Seattle's 9. Again, the ball bounced forward before Barnes recovered at Seattle's 2. This time, there was no debate as Barnes scooped it up cleanly.

"I was just trying to follow the play and I happened to be behind him and it was a good, clean recovery," Barnes said.

Three plays later, Gurley scored on a 2-yard touchdown run that would turn out to be the deciding points. But none of that would have been possible had Barnes not been Timmy on the Spot for those two fumbles.

"What can you say about Tim Barnes?" Fisher said. "That’s great effort, great effort. You never want to see the balls on the ground but we got some bounces and Tim made two big plays.”

To be sure, there's a bit of luck involved in recovering fumbles but in many ways Barnes and the Rams made their own luck. By following the ball and hustling downfield, Barnes put himself in position to come up with the ball when his team had to have it the most.

“It seemed like Timmy had the magic touch getting all those back, so it was huge,” quarterback Case Keenum said.

“You’ve got to follow the ball," Barnes said. "That’s what we try to do on every play. That’s what we do as an O-line. We try and chase the ball, keep guys from hitting our guys downfield. That’s something we want to do. That’s something we preach; that’s what coaches preach to us: If you’re around the pile at the end, good stuff will happen. And today, it just fell in our favor.”