The Los Angeles Rams (1-1) beat the New York Giants (1-1) by a final score of 28-6 in Week 2 of the NFL season on Monday Night Football. The Rams notched a much-needed win on Monday night as they avoided falling to the NFL’s dreaded 0-2 mark. It wasn’t perfect, but the Rams will take the win.
Regardless of the outcome, the big news out of New York was the injury to Jaxson Dart on New York’s opening possession. Dart left the game with an apparent knee injury after getting sandwiched between two L.A.
defenders. He did not return and the severity of his injury is unknown. Though, Dart was seen on the sideline later in the game indicating that his injury may not be as serious. Time will tell.
Big news for the Rams was that Aaron Donald made his return, and he appeared to be double and triple teamed the same as always, which opened up lanes for other defenders and with Myles Garrett injured, Donald’s return gave L.A. needed firepower.
Perhaps bigger news for L.A. is that the Rams looked competitive in Week 2 after looking outclassed by the San Francisco 49ers in Week 1. The Rams showed they may belong in the NFC West afterall in this game, though they have plenty of work to do if they still want to meet pre-season expectations and get to the Super Bowl.
One week at a time.
The first half
With Dart out for the Giants early, Jameis Winston was forced into the contest, and Winston didn’t seem to offer the mobility or overall threat level that Dart did in Week 1. L.A.‘s defense held Winston in check for the most part with plenty of pressure, but Winston also missed some throws that he certainly would’ve liked back.
Would Dart have made those missed throws? It’s a fair question. On the one hand you could argue that the Rams defense was solid through two quarters by forcing punts and causing an interception, on the other hand, you could argue that better quarterback play would’ve led to L.A.‘s defense getting picked apart as plenty of Giants seemed open, but Winston struggled to hit them.
Matthew Stafford and Davante Adams connected on plenty of big plays, and Stafford helped L.A. take a 14-0 lead when he found Adams for one score, and Kyren Williams for another. Stafford did later throw an interception into double coverage on what appeared to be a poor or unnecessary decision by the veteran QB.
Williams also lost a fumble in the second quarter giving the Giants life when the Rams had a chance to close out the opening half. Instead, Williams fumbled, but the Rams defense held the Giants to a field goal.
The Rams then responded to put together a nice drive with about 30-seconds left in the half, but Harrison Mevis missed a field goal and the score stayed 14-3 as the opening half came to its close.
The second half
The Rams had a nice second half, but it didn’t start that way when they came out of the half and did nothing on offense. Fortunately for the Rams, their defense continued to keep them in the game as they battered the Giants and Winston.
L.A.’s defense was likely the strongest unit of the day, and that says a lot considering Stafford threw for four touchdowns.
Stafford and Adams kept up their strong connection as Stafford was able to find Adams for his third passing score of the day and Adams’ second receiving touchdown.
The Giants tacked on a field goal to make the score 21-6, but when Stafford found Terrance Ferguson for his fourth passing score to make the score 28-6, the game was seemingly wrapped up based on what had been seen to this point from Winston and the Giants offense.
And wrapped up it was as the Rams secured the desired win.
The Final
All you can do is play who is in front of you and the Rams beat their opponent in Week 2. There were mistakes, yes, and there was enough there to think this Rams team is better than what was shown in Week 1. We’ll see how this team looks in Week 3 when they travel to take on the Denver Broncos for L.A.‘s third primetime game in a row on Sunday Night Football.
