Monday, September 19, 2011

InReeseWeTrust.com New York Giants vs. St. Louis Rams Week 2 Game Preview

St. Louis Rams (0-1) at New York Giants (0-1), Monday, September 19th at 8:20 at the Meadowlands
By Ben Kelly - InReeseWeTrust.com 9/19/11

What happened last week?
The Redskins busted a six-game losing streak against the Giants in Washington last week, and it appears the Rex Grossman-led Redskins are actually going to contend for the division this year. Grossman led a fourth-quarter rally to beat Arizona in Washington on Sunday to improve his team to 2-0. The ‘Skins stifled the Giants in the second half last week, conceding just 102 yards and zero of six third down conversions in the 28-14 Washington victory.


The St. Louis Rams were handled by Philadelphia in St. Louis week one, 31-13, and caught a dose of the Giants’ injury bug on the way. The Rams will replace three opening day starters in 2010 receptions leader Danny Amendola, number one cornerback Ron Bartell, and starting right tackle Jason Smith. Quarterback Sam Bradford and running back Steven Jackson were limited this week with throwing-hand index finger and right quadriceps injuries. Bradford will wear a glove on his right hand and Jackson is questionable, prompting current Rams head coach and former Giants defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo to call his team “pretty banged up.”

What this game means for the Giants
A loss to the Rams will put the Giants squarely in last place of the NFC East, behind the upstart 2-0 Redskins, 1-1 Cowboys and 1-1 Eagles. The Rams are fresh off a beat down by New York’s division rival in Philadelphia, a benchmark game for the Giants if there ever was one. A home loss in primetime to an unremarkable Rams team will only add to the ominous sense of urgency in this year’s team. We’ve all heard the statistics: only ten percent of teams winless in the first two weeks have made the playoffs, blah blah blah. One of those teams was the ’07 Super Bowl Champion Giants. The simple equation early in the season is this: if the Giants can’t beat the Rams, a 7-9 team last season, in a primetime game at the Meadowlands, and after the Eagles took it to ‘em on the road last week by eighteen points, then this Giants team isn’t very good. This isn’t a must win game, but it would certainly help the Giants to gain some momentum for their two game road swing, at Philadelphia next Sunday and Arizona in week four.

Who will step up for the injured players?
Both teams are missing entirely or will have limited production from key contributors, on both sides of the ball. The Justin Tuck/Osi Umenyiora-less defensive line notched four sacks of Rex Grossman, but the depleted secondary couldn’t stop him from throwing for 305 yards and no picks. Osi is out again in week two and Tuck is questionable. The emergence in their absences of second-year end Jason Pierre-Paul, who translated his preseason success into two Rex Grossman sacks last Sunday, has been both a delight and a sigh of relief. Wideout Hakeem Nicks is listed as questionable after injuring his knee against the Redskins while catching 7 passes for 122 yards. Only two wide receivers not named Hakeem Nicks caught passes last week- Domenik Hixon and Mario Manningham combined for seventy yards on six receptions. More players need to make their presence felt in the passing game- Jerrel Jernigan, Victor Cruz, Jake Ballard and the newly acquired veteran Brandon Stokley.
For St. Louis, Sam Bradford is going to start with a glove on his right hand, and will probably be just as effective as would be without it. Missing his security blanket in Danny Amendola hurts though, and comes at a bad time for Bradford heading into a pressure packed Monday-nighter at the Meadowlands. St. Louis signed receiver Mike Sims-Walker away from Jacksonville to be Bradford’s number one target, but the duo connected for just five yards on one catch in the opener. Former Tampa Bay Buc Cadillac Williams will carry the Rams running game and was last week’s leading provider, compiling 140 yards on 24 total touches.

Predictions
Eli is most effective when the running game carries the offense. Last week, it did not. Ahmad Bradshaw and Brandon Jacobs carried nineteen times for seventy-five yards. Philadelphia found plenty of running lanes against the Rams, gashing Spagnuolo’s line for 236 yards on 32 carries. Bradshaw and Jacbos are going to need to keep the clocks running and the depleted Giants D off the field and away from Bradford. Rex Grossman is a good quarterback, but in his first start since 2007 he lit up the Giants for 305 yards, two scores and no picks. Bradford is better, but St. Louis only found the end zone once in week one, on a 47-yard rip from Steven Jackson. Without his go to receiver Amendola, Bradford will struggle to keep the chains moving. The Giants will queue the drive-stalling defense in the red zone and grind the ball to a victory, 23-19.  

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