Giants Rally to Beat Rams in London - Improve to 4-3
The Giants showed heart last weekend, as Big Blue overcame a 10-0 first quarter deficit to beat the LA Rams 17-10 in London. The Giants desperately needed a win to keep their division and playoff hopes alive and their defense delivered. The Rams offense are not world beaters by any means, but after watching the Giants' second half collapse against the Redskins, anything is possible. New York defensive coordinator's game plan was pretty straight forward: stop Tod Gurley and make Case Keenum beat us. And it worked. The expensive defense executed superbly and had by far their best showing of the season. The defense held Gurley to just 57 yards rushing on 15 carries and invited Keenum to throw the ball. They entered the game with a league-low 2 interceptions and 3 sacks, but were able to make mince meat of Case Keenum on Sunday, sacking him 3 times and picking him of 4 times, including a second quarter pick 6 to tie the game. For the first time all season the Giants' pass rush was able to provide consistent pressure on the QB and they forced Keenum to make hurried throws, which the revamped secondary poached like hawks on field mice. Second year safety Landon Collins had the best game of his career, recording 8 tackles and 2 interceptions - one of which he returned 45 yards for a touchdown. Corner Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie also joined in on the turnover fun as he picked Keenum off twice, including one that sealed the win with less than a minute left in the game. The defensive line looked alive as interior linemen Damon Harrison and Jay Bromley each recorded a sack, and JPP and Kerry Wynn split the third. Penetration from the interior linemen is a huge boost for this defense who have struggled to muster up consistent pressure this season.
While the defense finally played to their potential, the Giants' offense looked far from prolific. The Rams defense is good, but the G-Men made them look great. Rashad Jennings returned from his injury but wasn't able to find his rhythm all game, though he did score the go ahead touchdown in the 4th quarter. Jennings, Paul Perkins, and Bobby Rainey combined for only 38 rushing yards on 18 carries. Eli was equally unimpressive as he threw for just 196 yards and no touchdowns. I guess it can be seen as a positive that he didn't turn the ball over, but he looked timid all game. I'm not sure if it's McAdoo's play calling or Eli's execution, but it appeared like Eli was afraid to throw down field and was quick to check down. With explosive play makers like Beckham, Cruz, and Shepard you have to get the ball in their hands and, while they each had 5 receptions, none of them had more than 55 yards receiving. Eli seems more concerned with not turning the ball over than making plays. It was mind numbing to watch the Giants go 3 and out, with less than 4 minutes to go in the game, after the defense had just picked off Keenum in the endzone to stall the Rams. Poor clock management to finish off the Rams had every Giants fan thinking about the late game collapses last season.
In the end, the Giants defense was the story of the game - they stood tall when called upon late and secured the Giants win heading into their bye week. However, the offense did just enough to win, and I implore McAdoo and Eli to take more chances downfield and to feed our playmakers. Quite frankly, the Rams aren't very good, and this game should have been a comfortable win by a few scores.
