The New York Giants defeated the St. Louis Rams 28-16 in the second week of the season, using a potent offense and a stout defense to collect the convincing victory. The Giants won the game despite winning the turnover margin by just one (2-1), and despite losing the yards battle 367 to 323.
The Giants, instead, were extra tough on defense in the red-zone and efficient when they managed to drive the ball deep into Rams’ territory. After a quick Giants possession to begin the game, which ended when Eli Manning threw an interception, the Rams used their first offensive possession to score three points. Nine plays and 84 yards netted the Rams a 21-yard field goal attempt, which was converted by long-time kicker Josh Brown. But the failings of the Rams offense was emblematic of the team’s struggles in the game, and was in stark contrast to the Giants proficiency in the red zone, marking the biggest difference between the two teams.
The Giants answered the Rams first punch with a 9 play, 39 yard drive that concluded with an Eli Manning touchdown pass to Hakeem Nicks. The Rams would once again drive down the field on their next possession, this time going 67 yards. Again, the Rams failed inside the red zone against a strong Giants front seven, and despite winning the yardage battle through the team’s first two possessions, the Giants held a 7-6 lead.
After three and outs by both teams, the Rams drove to the Giants 25 yard line when Sam Bradford threw a pass behind the line of scrimmage that was dropped, causing a fumble that was picked up by linebacker Michael Boley who ran it all the way back from 65 yards to give the Giants a 14-6 lead. After the teams exchanged four punts, the Giants finally got something clicking when Manning led his unit 87 yards in just 8 plays to give the team a convincing 21-6 lead going into halftime. To cap the drive, Manning found Dominek Hixon, the once unheralded star of the Giants Super Bowl team, for a 22-yard strike.
The Giants would essentially put the game away on their first drive of the second half, going 69 yards in six plays to go up 28-9, answering another field goal drive from the Rams. The Giants would stay in cruise control from that point forward, milking the clock as much as possible on their final three drives, the last of which was a 9 play drive that ended with Manning kneeling on the final three plays. The Giants gained over 300 total yards on offense, and had one of its most balanced games of the year. Manning found ten different receivers, while both Ahmad Bradshaw and Brandon Jacobs each ran for 50 yards or more. Outside of his first-series interception, Manning was near perfect, finishing with a quarterback rating of 91.2 The Giants defense, utilizing a bend but don’t break approach, was led by Justin Tuck. The star defensive end accounted for 1.5 sacks as well as timely pressures when the Rams entered New York territory.
