| Giants
(1-0) Rams (0-1)
The Los Angeles Rams first
game of the season was played against the San Francisco 49ers in Australia. The
Rams did not play well, and some feel it was a mistake for them to stay at home
until less than two days before kickoff. The 49ers traveled the 16-hour trip a
week earlier. The Rams scored the lowest amount of points in the week one NFL
games, losing to the 49ers 27-7.
The Giants
faced off against the Dallas Cowboys in their home opener at MetLife stadium.
They started with an opening drive touchdown, and led the Cowboys 14-7 at the
half. The Giants never let up, and continued to hold their lead through the rest
of the game. With the Giants scoring a touchdown in every quarter of this game,
they treated their fans to a 28-20 victory over the Cowboys. Los
Angeles Rams
The 2004 Rams finished off
their season with a divisional playoff loss to the Atlanta Falcons. After that,
they weren't even able to come up with a winning season until 2017. That's when
Sean McVay became their head coach, and their 11-5 record got them into the wildcard
playoffs. They didn't win that one, but in McVay's nine years, the team has been
to the playoffs seven times, with two Super Bowl appearances, winning the second
one. It was a 23-20 Super Bowl LVI victory over the Cincinnati Bengals played
in Los Angeles.
Last season the Rams fell one game short of playing in the
Super Bowl, losing the NFC Championship game to the Seattle Seahawks, who went
on to win the Super Bowl. The Rams sure would like to do what they did to finish
off the 2021 season, and notch another Super Bowl win on their home turf, SoFi
Stadium, where the game will be played. Los
Angeles Rams Offense
They
sure got off to a poor start in week one with a 27-7 loss to the San Francisco
49ers. Last year Matthew Stafford led the NFL with his 46 touchdown passes, and
4707 passing yards, and he won the league's MVP award. In Australia, Stafford
threw for 155 yards, with no touchdowns and one interception. Wide receiver Puka
Nacua was Stafford's top target last year, and top in the league with his receptions
and receiving yards. Stafford targeted Nacua 9 times last week, but only 5 were
completed. Davante Adams was Stafford's next go to, just as he was all last year
when he led the NFL with 14 touchdown catches, and he came up with just 3 catches
on 6 targets for 26 yards.
Both teams got off to a slow start, and it was running
back Kyren Williams who scored the first touchdown of the game in the second quarter
to put the Rams up 7-3. Blake Corum had one less carry, but more yards, and Ronnie
Rivers rounded out the running backs total of 114 yards. After Williams scored
his touchdown, that was it for their scoring. The offense couldn't get going,
and made only 13 first downs. The 49ers kept at it scoring 24 more points. You
can expect the Rams to do much better playing on their home field. Nacua has missed
some practice with a hip injury, and is listed as questionable for this game.
Los
Angeles Rams Defense
They
will be missing Myles Garrett, who they expected to have working in tandem with
Aaron Donald at the start of the season. Garrett broke the NFL single-season sack
record last year, with his total of 23 sacks. They could have used Donald last
week in their efforts against the 49ers, but chose to not have him make the trip.
Garrett had been dealing a knee injury, and wasn't effective in the game.
No sacks were delivered by a team that was ranked seventh in that area last year.
Garrett had surgery this week, and has been placed on injured reserve. That brings
us back to Donald, coming off a two year retirement after spending
the last eight years of his ten year career playing with the Rams. Talented player
that Donald is, we'll have to see how well he can transition back to the field
in his first game out.
The Giants had some long scoring drives last week,
which worked effectively against the Cowboys. This Rams defense was relied on
to do their job when Sean McVay decided to go for a fourth-down conversion on
the San Francisco 1-yard line. It failed, as his defense couldn't get the 49ers
off the field, and they went the full 99 yards for a touchdown. You still can't
ignore edge rushers Byron Young and Josaiah Stewart, and up-and-coming second
year outside linebacker Josaiah Stewart will have more opportunities to show what
he can do. In the secondary, safety Kamren Kinchens has been ruled out for this
game. Giants Offense
Jaxson
Dart looked good from the onset in the season opening game with the Dallas Cowboys.
He completed 79.3 percent of his passes for 230 yards, and Dart ran with the ball
8 times for 59 yards before taking three knees to end the game. Everyone was wondering
if Dart would have wide receiver Malik Nabers available, coming off a torn ACL
he suffered last year. It wasn't a sure thing until the inactive list came out
just before the game started. Nabers was active for the game, and he caught 6
passes for 69 yards. That put him second in catches behind Isaiah Likely .The
sure handed tight end caught all of the 8 passes Dart threw to him for 78 yards,
and 2 touchdowns. Running back Devin Singletary wasn't ignored by Dart, who connected
with him four times, including one touchdown.
Cam Skattebo was also back,
coming off his season ending ankle injury. Skattebo carried the ball 18 times
for 81 yards and 1 touchdown. His yards after contact were very impressive, though
some of his wanna-be first contact defenders were shoved away by Patrick Ricard.
The experienced powerful fullback certainly did his job for both runners and receivers,
working from various spots on the field. Dart saw some opportunities, and ran
with the ball 11 times for 54 yards. Singletary was next in carries and yards,
and Tyrone Tracy didn't get his hands on the ball in the second half, after he
fumbled on his second carry late in the second quarter. Giants
Defense
This defense can expect to see a
lot of what they saw last week when they went up against a top offensive unit.
The Rams passing offense was ranked the best in the league, and just as Dak Prescott
had his two top receiver targets, Matthew Stafford has his own, Puka Nacua and
Davante Adams. He could be without Nacua, and it doesn't help that Jordan Whittington
is listed as doubtful, after sustaining a quadriceps injury in last weeks game.
If Stafford is short on targets, he'll be looking for his strong group of tight
ends, Colby Parkinson, Terrance Ferguson, and Tyler Higbee, and running back Kyren
Williams.
It should be noted that there were no sacks on Stafford last week,.
He has great awareness, and works behind an offensive line that allowed just 23
sacks last year, the lowest in the NFL. They also made room for the running backs
to average 126.6 yards a game, the 7th highest in the NFL. The Rams were able
to run the ball against the 49ers, so the Giants will have to do as they did last
week limiting the Cowboys running backs Javonte Williams, and Emari Demercado
to 48 rushing yards.
Stopping the Cowboys on third down plays was a problem,
and it resulted in long drives. The Cowboys were able to convert on 72.7 percent
of their third-down attempts. This time the Giants will have to do better. The
secondary did a nice job holding CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens to 8 receptions
for 72 yards, and just one touchdown. This week in the secondary, cornerback Paulson
Adebo was placed on injured reserve with a knee issue. Deonte Banks has missed
practice dealing with a calf injury, and is listed as questionable. It would be
great if defensive pressure up front limits the Rams opportunities to test that
area.. Edge rushers Brian Burns, Abdul Carter, and Kayvon Thibodeaux, and linebackers
Tremaine Edmunds, and Arvell Reese need to do their part. Overall
Many
expected that this week two matchup would feature a game between the 0-1 Giants,
and the 1-0 Rams. Coaching plays a big part in winning and losing, and there are
many factors for them to consider for the team and the players. The Giants had
that going for them, and the Rams might have fallen short with their travel plans.
This game will be played at SoFi Stadium, so the well rested Rams won't have those
concerns. The Giants will have to travel and show that they can be a force both
at home and away. NFC East
Games
Sunday at 1:00pm Eagles (1-0) at
Titans (0-1)
Sunday at 4:00pm Commanders (0-1) at Cowboys (0-1)
Monday at
8:15pm Giants (1-0) at Rams (0-1)
The Eagles and Cowboys are the NFC East
teams favored to win in these games.
Check out.
Giants
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Next Games
Sept
27 Titans at Giants
Oct 4 Cardinals at Giants
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