Giants destroyed by Rams 51-17 in historic beatdown, drop to 1-7
The New York Giants were embarrassed by the Los Angeles Rams 51-17 in a game that wasn’t as close as the final score suggests.
The 34-point loss is the third-worst home loss in franchise history and the most points allowed by a Giants team since surrendering 50 to the Cleveland Browns in 1964. The loss drops the Giants to 1-7 for the first time since 1980. The Giants are one of three teams (the winless Browns and San Francisco 49ers, who the Giants face next week) without a home win this season.
The play that best exemplified the game (and the Giants season) occurred in the second quarter. The Rams began a drive after a fumble by Giants rookie running back Wayne Gallman.
After a slow start, they were assessed a 10-yard pass interference penalty and a 15-yard penalty for a chop block. Facing 3rd and 33, Rams quarterback Jared Goff hits wide receiver Robert Woods on a screen play that turned into a 52-yard touchdown. Woods was barely touched on the play.
The play gave the Rams a 17-7 lead. Just like that, the Giants were done with nine minutes, 26 seconds to go in the second quarter.
The Rams, who entered the game with the NFL’s second-highest scoring offense, had their way with the Giants. Receivers were repeatedly left wide open, leading to huge plays by the Rams offense. In total, the Rams had six plays of 30 yards or more. The normally reliable Landon Collins, in particular, was made to look mortal by the Rams offense.
The Giants offense didn’t help either, committing three turnovers in the first half.
Eli Manning, on the day he became the seventh quarterback in NFL history to pass for more than 50,000 yards in a career, was responsible for an interception and lost a fumble after a sack. He also missed on three touchdown opportunities and had some clock management issues early in the game. Manning was eventually pulled and Geno Smith got some time behind center.
The Giants’ special teams added to the ineptitude by having a punt blocked and missing a field goal.
The Giants are not the type of the team that fires a coach in the middle of a season, which may be the only reason why Ben McAdoo still has a job. The Giants weren’t expected to beat the 6-2 NFC West leading Rams. Injuries have helped doom the Giants’ season while the Rams came into this game without a name on their injury report.
At the same time, both teams were coming off their bye. The Rams were prepared to play while the Giants were not.
It has become obvious that whatever McAdoo is saying to his team is not working. It was evident in the way they played. The Giants were done not even halfway through the second quarter because they played no pride, no passion. It was as If they didn’t care that they were caught in the middle of a historic beatdown.
There’s still half a season remaining. This loss, like the Giants’ season, is a collective failure of management, coaching, and the players. Today’s loss, however, showed us everything we need to know about Ben McAdoo’s coaching acumen (or lack thereof). It proves that the “genius” label is thrown around way too much in sports. It would take a genius to figure out how to fix this mess known as the New York Football Giants…and McAdoo showed us today with his team’s play (following a bye week) that he’s not that smart.
– Curtis Rawls is a Managing Editor for cover32 and covers the NFL and New York Giants. Please like and follow on Facebook and Twitter. Curtis can be followed on Twitter @CuRawls203.
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