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Giants (0-3) Los Angeles (2-1)
Last Sunday the Rams found themselves trailing
the Buffalo Bills 28-3 in the third quarter. Then they scored on four consecutive
drives, and took the lead by four points. The Bills needed a touchdown on their
last drive of the game, and they managed to do that, giving them a 35-32 win over
the Rams.
The Giants were holding their own in the first two losses against
tougher competition. They took a big step backwards last week against a San Francisco
49ers team that was missing key players due to injuries. The Giants had their
worst performance to date and took a 36-9 loss. Los
Angeles Rams
The
Rams are a team on the move. We mean that literally. The Rams relocated from St.
Louis, where they played 21 seasons. They had played in the Los Angeles Memorial
Coliseum since returning to the City of Angels in 2016. Now they have finally
relocated to SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California. SoFi Stadium is the largest
NFL stadium, 3.1 million square feet, the first indoor-outdoor stadium to be constructed,
and it has the biggest video screen in the league. The translucent roof clear
panels that surround the stadium are able to open to let fresh air in.
SoFi
Stadium is spread out over nearly 300 acres of land, or three times the size of
Disneyland. It hosts both the Rams and the Chargers as well as various entertainment
events. The stadium has already secured Super Bowl LVI in 2022, the college football
national championship game in 2023 and the opening ceremonies of the 2028 Olympic
Games. The fans can't enjoy any of this right now because of COVID-19 restrictions,
but the stadium is ready to welcome approximately 70,000 of them, and it can be
expandable up to 100,000 when needed. It will also feature 260 luxury suites and
13,000 premium seats. Los
Angeles Rams Offense
The
Rams offense is good at passing the ball, running with it, and scoring points.
What more could you want? In their first two wins, they scored 20 and 37 points.
In their loss last week - 32. They have scored points in every quarter they've
played except for two. Quarterback Jared Goff
has completed 70 percent of his passes, and he leads the NFL in throwing, for
an average 9.3 yards per attempt. Tight end Tyler Higbee has caught 10 out of
11 passes for 134 yards and leads the team with 3 touchdowns.
On the ground
the Rams lead the league with 111 rushing attempts, and they rank third with 511
rushing yards. Rookie Cam Akers had started the first two games, missed the last
one and will be out for this one as well. The Rams utilize a running back committee
that also includes Darrell Henderson, playing in his second year, and veteran
Malcolm Brown. Henderson was limited in his rookie year by injuries, and has been
making up for that now. With Akers out, he took the lead last week rushing 20
times for 114 yards and 1 touchdown. Henderson is averaging 5.7 yards per carry
this year. Los Angeles Rams
Defense
Tackle Aaron Donald is considered
by many to be the best defensive player in the NFL. Last year he had 12.5 sacks
in addition to 24 quarterback hits, and 20 tackles for loss in the running game.
Donald has 3 sacks over the first three games, but overall the Rams have just
7 sacks total which is low compared to the 50 they came up with last year. That
ranked them fourth in the NFL. Veteran Leonard Floyd has two sacks, and they are
looking for more quarterback pressure from some of the younger players.
Last
week Bills quarterback Josh Allen had the second most time to throw of any quarterback
in the NFL. The Bills gained 4.8 rushing yards a play. There were a lot of missed
tackles and blown coverages in that game, and they couldn't protect their 4 point
lead on the Bills final drive. They know they have to play better, and will be
anxious to tune up in this game with the Giants. Giants
Offense
Daniel Jones hasn't helped himself
this year in shutting down his critics for his poor ball handling. Last week we
said coming into the 49er game, Jones had so far thrown 2 touchdown passes, had
3 interceptions, and lost one fumble. We added that continuing at that rate compared
to last year, he'll end up with 8 less touchdowns, 12 more interceptions, and
4 more fumbles. Well he did continue on that poor track with 0 touchdowns, 1 interception,
and 1 fumble lost. Right now, to his credit, Jones represents the Giants rushing
attack.
Jones leads the team with 92 rushing yards. Obviously that has to
change for the Giants to have any chance at sustaining a balanced offense. You
would have thought that by now Wayne Gallman, in his fourth year with the Giants,
would be a solid backup to Saquon Barkley. Instead he wasn't even active when
Barkley went down, and they've scrambled and brought in Devonta Freeman to supplant
Dion Lewis, who they had filling that spot.
It hurt to lose wide receiver Sterling
Shepard, out with a toe injury. Teams have been able to focus more on Darius Slayton.
His catches and first downs have dropped from the season opener where he caught
6 (all first downs) of 9 for 102 yards with 2 touchdowns. Last week he was held
to 3 of 7 for 53 yards, and no first downs. Golden Tate's job is to be a reliable
target. He missed the first game, caught all 5 passes in the second, and was 5
of 7 last week, coming up with 2 first downs in each game. Giants
Defense
The defense couldn't get off the
field last week, and they're facing a team that likes to run the ball, and is
very successful doing it. The Rams play off tricky formations that look very similar
to keep defenses off balance. Some of their run plays look the same as play action
passes the way their offensive linemen behave. That's one of the reasons Jarod
Goff has been sacked so few times this year and last, and how they are able to
keep the ball moving down the field.
The Giants are near the top on limiting
opponents first down yardage per game, but they continue to allow first downs
whether it be on second or third down conversions.
Cornerback James Bradberry and free safety
Logan Ryan have been great additions to the secondary, but safety Jabrill Peppers
is out for this game with an ankle injury, and cornerback Julian Love is questionable,
with knee and ankle injuries. That makes it tough for the Giants to defend against
the high powered passing attack that they will see this Sunday. Overall
In their first two games, the Rams beat two
NFC East teams (Cowboys, Eagles). Can they make it three in a row this week when
they play the Giants? Four in a row playing in Washington next week? Hell no.
The Giants have to put a stop to this NFC East beatdown nonsense. Don't let the
Washington football team steal all the glory next week.
Seriously, the Giants
go into this game as almost the biggest underdog of the week, by almost two touchdowns.
You guessed it, only Washington is worse. The most Giants fans can hope for is
a good showing like they were expecting to see last week, instead of what the
Giants actually did in that game. NFC
East Games
Sunday at 1:00pm Browns (2-1)
at Cowboys (1-2).
Sunday at 1:00pm Ravens (2-1) at Washington (1-2).
Sunday
at 4:05pm Giants (0-3) at Rams (2-1).
Sunday at 8:20pm Eagles (0-2-1) at 49ers
(2-1).
The Cowboys are the only NFC East team favored to win in these games.
Check out.
Giants
On The Air. Listen to the Radio Broadcasts.
TeamGiants on Twitter.
Notes.
Giants
are last in the NFL, scoring just 38 points over three games. The
Giants will play their first game in Los Angeles in 25 years - Oct. 16, 1994,
a loss to the Rams 17-10.
Next Games
Oct 11 Giants at Cowboys
Oct
18 Washington at Giants
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