Jalen Ramsey slams Golden Tate on third down.
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=seY31may78c[/embedyt]
Despite leading wire-to-wire, the LA Rams did not look sharp when they edged out a tight win against the winless NY Giants and improving to 3-1. Getting a win isn’t all that matters. How you perform matters, too. This is why most Rams fans feel better about the loss to Buffalo than they do with the win against the Giants.
The Giants out-gained the Rams and won the time of possession battle. The Giants rush attack nearly tripled the Rams ground game, yet all they had to show for it were three field goals. For what the Rams lacked offensively, they made up for on defense.
The Rams pass rush got after Giants quarterback Daniel Jones sacking him five times and registering 10 tackles for a loss. It’s about time the Rams pass rush showed up especially considering how poorly the Giants offensive line has played.
As good as the pass rush was, the Rams secondary was just as strong. Jalen Ramsey had one of the plays of the game when he blew up two Giants on one play. The other defensive gem belongs to cornerback Darious Williams who made a pivotal interception for the second time this season. Williams is the first player since 2013/14 to have four interceptions in his first seven career games.
A tip of the cap has to go to the Giants defensive front who outmuscled the Rams offensive line. This was a key to the game heading in since the Giants also limited San Francisco’s ground attack in week three. Because of this, Rams head coach Sean McVay had to run 13 personnel (three tight ends) on 19 percent of the offensive snaps to mitigate the Giants pass rush. This is also why running back Malcom Brown, who is an asset at picking up blitzes and pass protection out-snapped Darrell Henderson.
Jared Goff had an okay game, throwing for 200 yards and one touchdown. He rarely took shots downfield and seemed risk averse. Most of those yards came on a long throw and catch to Cooper Kupp for the Rams second TD of the game.
It wasn’t a pretty win, especially on offense but the Rams defense stepped up and hopefully McVay and company will make the proper adjustments for the next game at Washington.
