Week 2 Recap – St. Louis Rams @ New York Giants
ST. LOUIS – On September 19, the Giants and Rams had their second regular season game of the year. The Rams are coming off a blowout loss at home two Sundays ago against the Philadelphia Eagles and the Giants are coming off a two-score loss in an away game two Sundays ago against the Washington Redskins.
Pre-game notes: The Giants’ head coach, Tom Coughlin, squared up against his former defensive coordinator of the Giants, Rams’ head coach Steve Spagnuolo. The Rams just signed Quinn Porter, RB, to handle kickoff returns; Greg Salas, WR for the Rams, will handle punt returns in Danny Amendola’s absence. The last time the Rams played in a Monday Night Football game was back in 2006.
The Giants’ Pro Bowl DE Justin Tuck is making his first start tonight after sitting out the opening game because of his neck injury. The other Giants’ Pro Bowl DE Osi Umenyiora is out tonight. The Giants’ first round pick CB Prince Amukamara is inactive again, as well as TE Travis Beckum. The Giants’ WR Hakeem Nicks will play after all tonight. The Rams’ WR Danny Amendola is inactive tonight because of his dislocated shoulder. The Rams’ QB Sam Bradford will start tonight. The Rams’ TE Michael Hoomanawanui is making his first start of the season tonight. The Rams’ RB Steven Jackson will not play because of his quadriceps injury from his first run last game.
1st quarter:
On 1st-and-10 at the STL 37, Eli Manning, QB for the Giants, threw a deep right pass intended for WR Mario Manningham and the ball was intercepted by S Quintin Mikell who ran out of bounds for no gain at the STL 14.
On 4th-and-goal at the NYG 2, Rams K Josh Brown successfully kicked a 21-yard field goal. Rams 3 Giants 0
On 4th-and-10 at the NYG 21, Steve Weatherford, P for the Giants, punted the ball 40 yards and Rams WR Greg Salas muffed the catch and it was recovered by Giants DE Dave Tollefson who returned it for no gain at the STL 38.
On 2nd-and-goal at the STL 3, Manning threw a short left pass to WR Hakeem Nicks, which resulted in a touchdown and extra point by K Lawrence Tynes. Rams 3 Giants 7
On 4th-and-2 at the NYG 7, Brown successfully kicked a 25-yard field goal. Rams 6 Giants 7
On 4th-and-3 at the NYG 27, Weatherford punted the ball 38 yards and it was downed at the STL 35.
On 4th-and-1 at the STL 44, Rams P Donnie Jones punted the ball 32 yards and it was downed at the NYG 24.
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2nd quarter:
On 4th-and-7 at the NYG 27, Weatherford punted the ball 49 yards and it was fair caught at the STL 24.
On 3rd-and-8 at the NYG 25, Bradford threw a backwards pass intended for RB Cadillac Williams and the ball was recovered by LB Michael Boley, which resulted in a touchdown and extra point by Tynes. Rams 6 Giants 14
On 4th-and-9 at the STL 8, Jones punted the ball 54 yards and it was returned to the NYG 42.
On 4th-and-13 at the NYG 39, Weatherford punted the ball 61 yards into the end zone for a touchback.
On 4th-and-11 at the STL 30, Jones punted the ball 35 yards and it was downed at the NYG 35.
On 4th-and-4 at the NYG 41, Weatherford punted the ball 51 yards and it was returned to the STL 37.
On 4th-and-8 at the NYG 46, Jones punted the ball 32 yards and it was fair caught at the NYG 14.
On 1st-and-10 at the STL 22, Manning threw a deep middle pass to WR Domenik Hixon, which resulted in a touchdown and extra point by Tynes. Rams 6 Giants 21
3rd quarter:
On 4th-and-3 at the NYG 9, Brown successfully kicked a 27-yard field goal. Rams 9 Giants 21
On 1st-and-goal at the STL 9, Giants RB Brandon Jacobs rushed the ball to the left, which resulted in a touchdown and extra point by Tynes. Rams 9 Giants 28
On 3rd-and-10 at the NYG 19, Bradford threw a deep left pass to WR Danario Alexander, which resulted in a touchdown and extra point by Brown. Rams 16 Giants 28
4th quarter:
On 4th-and-16 at the STL 48, Weatherford punted the ball 35 yards and it was fair caught at the STL 13.
On 4th-and-3 at the STL 20, Jones punted the ball 58 yards and it was returned to the NYG 22.
On 4th-and-4 at the NYG 47, Weatherford punted the ball 48 yards and it was fair caught at the STL 5.
On 4th-and-6 at the STL 24, Jones punted the ball 47 yards and it was returned to the NYG 35.
On 4th-and-1 at the STL 31, Jacobs rushed the ball to the right and the Rams stopped him before the first down marker.
On 4th-and-28 at the STL 15, Jones punted the ball 55 yards and it was fair caught at the NYG 30.
On 3nd-and-12 at the NYG 28, Manning knelt to the NYG 27. End game
Post-game notes: The Rams lost zero starters throughout the game due to injury, as opposed to six last week. The Giants also had no major injuries, but faked injuries one time in the game when the Rams were utilizing their hurry-up offense in the red zone. Bradford threw for a career high 331 passing yards. Alexander also had a career day catching only three balls for a total of 122 yards; he officially scored one TD and got tackled at the 1 on another reception. Salas fumbled the ball twice and lost one.
In a loss that was deserved, the Rams got beat by the New York “Football” Giants 28-16. The Giants killed the Rams on first downs (The Rams only had one rushing first down.) and doubled the Rams’ total on rushing yards, though the Rams almost doubled the Giants’ passing yards. The Rams had four total fumbles, two lost, and the Giants had none. The Giants had control of the ball for eight more minutes than the Rams. No points were scored in the fourth quarter.
The big stat of the game was the red zone. The Rams were one for four in the red zone with only one touchdown and three field goals of less than thirty yards. However, the Giants were two for two in the red zone with two touchdowns. The Rams were also zero for one on goal to go and the Giants were two for two on goal to go. The other offensive touchdown was out of the red zone and the final touchdown was on the defensive side of the ball after Williams dropped the backwards pass and Boley picked it up and ran it in for the score. Boley’s first career touchdown was a memorable one because he threw the ball as hard as possible into the head of a Giants’ intern. Each of the four touchdowns scored by the Giants was directly related to a Rams’ mistake.
The season is looking even worse for the Rams, now that they are 0-2 in the regular season; however, they are only one game behind first in the division. I would still be surprised if the Rams do not win this year’s division for the first time since 2003 and make the playoffs for the first time since 2004.
By Trevor Roe
ProFootball-fans.com St. Louis Rams Correspondent