East Rutherford, NJ -- The New York Giants fell to the Los Angeles Rams in a crushing 38-11 loss. New York, riddled with injuries, could not keep up with the quick-striking offense and the lockdown defense of the Rams. So what went wrong for New York?
New York went into this game knowing RB Saquon Barkley, WR Kenny Golladay, and Darius Slayton were inactive, which would set this offense back. Daniel Jones was named the starting QB despite suffering a concussion just last week, bringing into question the integrity of the NFL's concussion protocol, and the reality of Jones' physical capabilities.
With numerous receivers inactive, the bulk of the targets were to be given to rookie WR, Kadarius Toney. Toney had a monster game against Dallas, totaling over 180 yards, and breaking a franchise record for most rookie receiving yards against the Cowboys. Today, the Giants lost Toney early in the opening drive to an ankle injury, and it's unknown when he will return.
In the 2nd quarter, starting left tackle, Andrew Thomas, already questionable before the game, went down with a left foot injury. From that point on, Daniel Jones had very little consistency on his offensive line and with his receiving core.
Turnovers devasted this Giants' offense. Jones threw 3 interceptions and lost a fumble, which painfully reminded Giants' fans of Daniel Jones from a year ago.
One positive from Sunday was defensive lineman, Leonard Williams, who matched his season total on Sunday game with 1.5 sacks. However, Williams was one of the very few positives for this Giants' defense. Graham's squad has led the NFL in points allowed within the final two minutes of a half. Stafford added onto those 51-points with a 25-yard touchdown pass to Darrell Henderson at the end of the 1st half. This defense allowed the Rams to become the fourth team to score more than 25 points, one more game than last year during week 6.
The G-Men have to find a way to win quickly. The offense cannot become so dependent on Saquon and Daniel Jones' running abilities. Jason Garrett needs to trust his QB (2020's most accurate passer of 20+ yards), to get the ball downfield to the receivers the Giants spent millions on this offseason. Patrick Graham has to find a way to win without MLB, Blake Martinez, who was a tackling machine in the box before suffering an ACL tear.
