E-GIANTS
Dave Klein was the Giants' beat writer for The Star-Ledger from 1961 to 1995.
He is the author of 26 books and he was one of only three sportswriters to have covered all the Super Bowls up until last year. Dave has allowed TEAM GIANTS to reprint some of his articles.

IT WASN'T JUST A DEFEAT BUT AN EMBARRASSMENT AGAINST THE L.A. RAMS, 38-11

By Dave Klein
Are the LA Rams as good as they looked Sunday?

Yes.

Are the Giants as bad as they looked Sunday?

Yes.

And so the team in blue fell to a 1-5 record, making it all too easy for the visitors to rise to 5-1, and after scoring the first three points of the game, head coach Joe Judge's guys gave up the next 38 points.

Honest, that is not a typographical error.

The Giants' defense surrendered 38 consecutive points.

Isn't anybody embarrassed by this?

"We have lots of things to fix," said Judge, in a classic understatement. "We have to do better as a team."

That might put him in a commanding lead for Understatement of the Year, but it doesn't help the team start playing well, it doesn't help the fans build any sort of confidence and it doesn't say much for the way this team was assembled - at a cost of millions.

In addition to the nightmare on the field, rookie wide receiver Kadarius Toney, who caught 10 passes for 189 yards last week against the Cowboys, had three receptions for 39 yards in the first quarter Sunday before leaving the game with an undisclosed ankle injury.

Others who left all too quickly (not counting the fans) were return specialist-wide receiver C.J. Board (broken arm) and offensive tackle Andrew Thomas, who didn't play last week because of a foot injury and didn't last long yesterday.

In fact, the offensive line allowed quarterback Daniel Jones to be sacked three times while throwing four interceptions. And right tackle Nate Solder was removed after the first play of the game when he allowed Jones to be sacked, although he did return. Jones fumbled when hit, but the bouncing ball was recovered by guard Will Hernandez and the only scar was an eight-yard loss.

Jones, who suffered a concussion last week in Dallas, managed to play the entire game. He completed 29 of 51 passes for 242 yards, zero touchdowns, four interceptions and a 44.7 QB ratio.

That's just sad.

Since Saquon Barkley (ankle sprain from last week) was in the Inactive List, the starting running back was Devonte Booker, and he carried 12 times for 41 yards.

Also among the Game Inactives were wide receivers Kenny Golladay and Darius Slayton and guard Ben Bredeson. Coupled with the early loss of Toney, that left the Giants' offense sadly inadequate.

The Rams, coached by Sean McVay, grandson of former Giants' coach John McVay, use a complicated offense that often masquerades as a passing formation when a run is called, and vice versa. "We try to keep things interesting," he said. "Fortunately, we haven't had serious injuries and our quarterback [Matthew Stafford] is playing well."

Stafford, who was rescued (by way of trade) from the woeful Detroit Lions, has emerged as a superstar. Sunday he completed 22 of 28 passes for 251 yards, four touchdowns and a lofty 128.7 QB ratio.

The Giants are now 7-15 under Judge (and Jones), and while some of the fault for such inferiority belongs to the coaching staff, questions must be aimed at those in charge of building the team, which includes general manager Dave Gettleman, the coaches and the scouts.

The game yesterday featured a team that could do no wrong against a team that only did wrong, and frankly speaking, it was offensive to the players from the Giants' last Super Bowl victory 10 years ago who were honored at halftime, along with head coach Tom Coughlin.

LA wide receiver Cooper Kupp, whose father Craig was drafted by the Giants in 1990 and whose grandfather, Jake, was an 11-year NFL veteran offensive lineman, once again led the Rams with nine receptions for 130 yards and a pair of touchdowns.

The Giants' defense, once thought to be the bulwark of the team, allowed 365 yards of total offense against the Rams, bringing the total of just the last three games to 1,285 yards.

That's nowhere near acceptable, [defensive coordinator] Patrick Graham.

The inferior performance of the defense is beginning to affect the players. Defensive tackle Leonard Williams, who had 1.5 sacks Sunday to bring his season total to three for the season, grumbled at his locker. "It's not good when the home fans are booing," he said, which puts him in competition with Judge for Understatement of the Year.

The Giants will host the Carolina Panthers next week, then play a Monday night game in Kansas City before returning to MetLife Stadium for a game against the Las Vegas Raiders.

Oh, and then a road trip to play Tampa Bay Buccaneers the week after - on a Monday night.

In all likelihood, things will only get worse.

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