St. Louis Rams 16, New York Giants 28
What I Liked
Eli Manning had a pretty good outing against the Rams. He didn’t exactly jump out as the star of the game, but he was able to lead his team to a victory. The biggest thing was getting the “W” to keep them close in the NFC East.
The star of the game for the Giants wasn’t even a player. It was their ability to kill the clock in the 4th quarter. They have some of the more powerful runners in the league, and that physicality really showed late in the game.
The Giants’ red-zone defense deserves a shout out as well. They kept the Rams out of the end-zone much of the night, and that turned out to be the big difference in the game.
What I Hated
The Rams have a future star at quarterback, but they have to be able to protect him if they want him to lead them to victory. If I’m a Rams fan, I’m very concerned. They play in what many believe to be the worst division in football. That being the case, they have a lot of work to do if they want to make the playoffs.
Also noteworthy in this section is the Rams’ running game. With the absence of Steven Jackson, I really didn’t expect a whole lot out of them in this regard, but the effort was still disappointing. The Rams let the Giants tee-off on Sam Bradford all night, and such a one dimensional offense just won’t get it done.
Why the hell did the Rams punt it with 1:30 left and only down by 12 points? Yes, it would have been extremely unlikely for them to win the game, especially since the punt came on 4th and a mile, but what message does it send when you punt? Are you afraid the Giants will score again? No. Tom Coughlin has more class than that. If the Giants got the ball deep in the Rams’ territory, they would have just sat on it. I hated the punt. You’ve got to try, and the punt gave the end of the game a pre-season feel that was just unwelcome.
Where They’re Going
The Rams are in trouble. There’s no doubt about that. They play in a bad division, but with their injuries, they may be the worst team of the bunch. They need to step up defensively, and they have to be able to punch the ball into the end-zone once they get inside the 20 yard line. Simply put, they’ve got a whole lot of work to do.
The Giants got back on track with a win, and they’ll have to get a little bit of streak going to stay in the playoff race in the NFC. I don’t expect them to win their division, and it may well take 11 wins to make the playoffs as an NFC wild-card team. They’ve got their work cut out for them, but this game was a step in the right direction.
