Rams Defeat Giants in Convincing Fashion, 38-11

The Rams were in complete control on Sunday at MetLife Stadium, defeating the Giants and picking up their fifth win of the season.

Nicholas Cothrel | Oct 17, 2021

The Los Angeles Rams had 10 days to prepare an adequate game plan for their Week 6 contest against the New York Giants, and what the Rams wanted to do, they did at will, defeating the Giants in convincing fashion by the final score of 38-11.

The Rams failed to score any points in the first half, punting on each of their first two offensive possessions. However, from there on out, it was all Rams at MetLife Stadium on Sunday.

“I thought we could be a lot sharper offensively,” Rams coach Sean McVay said after the game. “We’ve got to start faster. There’s no excuse. We’ve got to be better than that. But we’ll take the win, and I thought guys did a nice job.”

The Rams rallied off 28 unanswered points in the second quarter ahead of halftime as quarterback Matthew Stafford threw three touchdowns to three different pass-catchers – Cooper Kupp, Robert Woods and Darrell Henderson – while also punching it in on the ground for a score with Henderson.

After Stafford's accuracy looked to cause minor reasons for concern the last two weeks, he looked true to form against the Giants. Stafford completed 22 of 28 passes for 251 yards, four touchdowns and one interception. And not only was it just his box score that articulated a solid outing, but Stafford's passes looked to come out of his hand crisp and frequently on target.

Stafford often looked in the direction of his favorite target, finding Kupp nine times for 130 yards and two touchdowns. Kupp hauled in his 30th career touchdown just before halftime, giving him the most touchdowns in a player's first 60 games in Rams franchise history.

“It does speak to the standard we have as a team and an offense and what we’re supposed to do,” Kupp said, referencing the Rams' expectations this season. “This is the result we wanted, but as an offense, it’s not up to our standard in terms of the process of how we execute as a unit."

With a second-quarter thriller for L.A. behind them, they weren't done there. The Rams remained in complete control, forcing two more takeaways from Daniel Jones and company in the third quarter.

Jones finished the day throwing three interceptions while completing 29 of 51 attempts for 242 yards. The Rams defensive front sacked Jones four times, applying constant pressure all throughout.

While L.A. caused all sorts of problems for Jones and the Giants to move the ball downfield, Rams' safety Taylor Rapp was a big reason for that. Rapp completed a career day, totaling four tackles, two interceptions, three pass breakups and one quarterback hit.

“I think it’s just not listening to outside noise,” Rapp said of not letting their guard down. “It’s about taking care of our business and just playing our ball.”

What could go wrong for the Giants, did go wrong. They were already banged up to a great extent with injuries to running back Saquon Barkley and wide receiver Kenny Golladay. After the Giants' opening possession on offense, rookie wide receiver Kadarius Toney – who was expected to be the No. 1 pass-catching target in Week 6 for New York – suffered an ankle injury and was declared out for the remainder of the game.

Toney was one of the few bright spots for New York, causing matchup problems for the Rams when he was covered by rookie cornerback Robert Rochell. Toney registered three catches for 36 yards during his small dose of time on the field.

The Rams now sit with a 5-1 record and will host the Detroit Lions next Sunday at SoFi Stadium at 1:05 p.m. where L.A. is expected to be a heavy favorite.

More from Ram Digest:

Nick Cothrel is the Publisher of Ram Digest. Follow Nick on Twitter @NickCothrel.

Published Oct 17, 2021

NICHOLAS COTHREL

Nick Cothrel covers the Los Angeles Rams for Sports Illustrated.