Week 2

Monday Sep 19, 2011

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Danario Alexander skies for a catch, then gets up and runs for more yardage. Photo by Tim Farrell/THE STAR-LEDGER.

The St Louis Rams waited a long time to take the field on Monday night, and as they waited to re-present themselves on the national stage, three competing narratives swirled about the national media. "Josh McDaniels is going to transform this offense" vs "Steve Spagnuolo is putting his aggressive stamp on the Rams defense" vs "The Rams? Dude, they totally blow!"

Most frustrating for Rams fans? All three were true.

The Rams appeared to grossly outplay the Giants in the first half, with only a fluke play and a bad call by the referees enabling a 7-6 New York lead. The crowd was mostly indifferent as the Rams flew down the field against a defenseless Giants secondary toward a go-ahead score. The path to a dominating Rams victory seemed assured.

Until Josh McDaniels sent in a fatefully bad play-call: a halfback option to Cadillac Williams on a third and eight on the Giants' 25 yard line. It was a play that, once witnessed, Rams fans will never be able to unsee.

Bradford's pass was not a good one. Cadillac's hands, so good in the passing game, were made of stone. His field awareness, something that is supposed to be as mature as a thirty-year-old scotch by this point in his NFL career, was lacking as the ball skipped away, an obvious fumble.

The Giants' Michael Boley scooped up the ball and ran. That was all he had to do to seize the moment, and rob the Rams of every shred of positive momentum they had built up in this game, this offseason, this attempt at a nation-wide renewal of face.

We're two hours before kickoff, and one crucial matchup has already been determined: Steven Jackson vs his conditioning test. After failing to "look fluid" in a 40-yard dash, as Bernie Miklasz put it, the Rams' workhorse has been stabled. (Cadillac Williams owners in fantasy all take a deep breath of relief.)

With that out of the way, here are three crucial matchups that will dictate whether the St Louis Rams win or lose this game. 

Roger Saffold v. Jason Pierre-Paul and Jason Smith v. Justin Tuck

The phrase "it all starts up front" is often used, but holds so true for tonight.  The New York Giants are missing their best corner in Terrell Thomas and first-round pick Prince Amukmara.  After watching Jabar Gaffney turns these corners around with double moves last week, I’m convinced that Gibson and Sims-Walker can do the same.  However, they won’t have the opportunity to if Sam Bradford doesn’t have the time to throw the ball.

The two youngsters looked like they had their hands full last weekend against Trent Cole and Jason Babin.  They both struggled at times.  Unfortunately for them and Sam Bradford, the competition will not get any easier anytime soon.  Tonight, they face off against two great defensive ends in Pierre-Paul and Tuck.

The second-year man, Pierre-Paul had 4.5 sacks as a rookie last year.  He was all over the place in the Giants’ loss last week to the Redskins, recording 6 tackles, 3 for loss, and 2 sacks.  The 15^th overall pick in the 2010 draft looks to be on his way to being another great Giants defensive end.

It is reported that Tuck, who has had some neck issues thus far, will be in the line-up for the first time this season.  Tuck is coming off an 11.5 sack season that earned him a trip to the Pro-Bowl.  He is one of the most complete defensive ends in the game. Jason Smith will have his hands full. I expect that he will be helped out by Cadillac Williams or a tight end tonight.  Perhaps, we’ll also see some screens in attempt to slow Tuck down.

Steven Jackson returned from the "doubtful" list against the Seahawks in 2010. Is there any way he doesn't play tonight?

Yesterday's bloodsport between Atlanta and Philadelphia capped a full day of NFL gameday viewing. Jeremy Maclin, Matt Ryan and Michael Vick took hit after brutal hit. They had their bodies mashed, scissored and spindled, getting back up again and again. (Vick was eventually knocked out, though.) I sat there thinking "these guys are just different from the rest of us." 

Steven Jackson isn't just different in his ability to play through pain, though. The running back for the St Louis Rams is otherworldly. Once maligned for letting minor injuries take him off the field, Jackson has become more durable in the later stage of his career.

Officially, Jackson is listed as "Questionable" with a strained quad muscle. As Will Carroll will helpfully point out, any strain is a partial tear in the muscle. That sounds bad, but his coach says he is "day to day."

Spagnuolo is set to work out Jackson tonight before making his decision. Based on past precedent, I don't think Jackson allows his coach to see an iota of weakness in that workout.

Almost exactly one year ago, in week 3 of the 2010 season, Jackson suffered another partial tear. This one was in his groin, the tiny muscles that attach the leg to the inside of the pelvis. Those muscles are notoriously difficult to work out, let alone rehab. Jackson missed the full week of practice, got acupuncture treatment, strapped on a harness and convinced Spagnuolo to play him.

Essentially limited to running in a straight line, Jackson carried the ball 22 times through anyone standing in his way. His work in the trenches helped lead the Rams to a 20-3 throttling of their longtime tormentors in Seattle, a breakthrough home win for Sam Bradford and the Rams.

Jackson again missed a full week of practice. Again, he sought acupuncture treatment, as part of his highly regimented self-care program. Again, he will stand eye to eye with Spagnuolo (if Spags stands on a step-stool) and talk his coach in to starting him. 

"[Jackson] knows his body better than anyone else," coach Spagnuolo said earlier this week.

His team stands on a big stage against the New York Giants on Monday Night Football, and needs yet another breakthrough win. If Jackson says he can go, do you think anyone will stop him?

The Rams make their first return to Monday Night Football since 2006 in their week 2 matchup with the New York Giants. Both teams are coming off of week 1 losses, and are dealing with a plethora of injuries.

The Rams are looking to rebound off of a loss at the hands of the Philadelphia Eagles, while overcoming injuries to Sam Bradford, Steven Jackson, Bradley Fletcher, C.J. Ah You, and Ron Bartell. Bartell, Ah You, and Jackson will all likely sit this week. The Giants are coming off of a week one loss to the Washington Redskins. They are dealing with their own share of injuries with Prince Amukamara, Travis Beckum, Justin Tuck, Osi Umenyiora, and Hakeem Nicks all hobbled or out.  

Against the Eagles, the Rams offensive line looked horrible in pass protection.   Their task doesn't get much easier facing a squad that tallied four sacks last week. Although Spagnuolo is no longer the Giants defensive coordinator, their defensive philosphy has not changed much. Despite a schematic shift to Cover Two, the front line simply gets after the quarterback.

They are also solid against the run, yielding only 74 yards on 26 carries to the Redskins, for only 2.9 yards per carry. In many ways, St. Louis looked like the Rams of old, allowing for 236 yards on the ground to the Eagles, albeit 97 were to quarterback Michael Vick. (95 more came on four fourth-quarter runs by LeSean McCoy.) Although both teams are suffering from injuries ot the secondary, if they want to win this game.

As always, there are three things to watch for in this week's matchup:

Fans want some new tricks from the Giants' old dog, Kevin Gilbride.

For our second pre-game Q&A of the week, we tap on the shoulder of an old comrade from RamsHerd's Fanball days, Dan Stack. Dan wrote for the inimitable GMenDen.com, and is now working at GiantsFootballBlog.com.

Dan was kind enough to give us another perspective on the Rams' MNF opponent, the New York Giants. You can read our answers to Dan's questions on his site. Here, Dan submits to our interrogation. 

RamsHerd: Offensively, what happened in week 1? Do you credit an improved Redskins defense, or do you place blame on Eli Manning and the Giants offense, after getting shut out in the second half?

GiantsFootballBlog: In their loss to the Redskins the Giants were a lousy 1-11 on third and fourth downs. Some credit can go towards the Redskins defense, but the Giants offensive play calling was uninventive and way too predictable. Offensive Coordinator Kevin Gilbride is unliked by many in the Giant community and is affectionately known as "killdrive."

RamsHerd: It seemed like a quiet offseason in New York, with re-signing Ahmad Bradshaw the only move that made headlines. How have the Giants improved since last year? Or have they taken a step back?

GiantsFootballBlog: Most Giants fans think the Giants have taken a step back this year, and one would have a hard time arguing that they didn't.

In the free agency period the team had to cut fan favorites and important offensive lineman Rich Seubert and Shaun O'Hara while neglecting to resign key cogs to their recent success in TE Kevin Boss, WR Steve Smith and DT Barry Cofield. That inactivity plus all the injuries (CB Terrell Thomas, LB Jonathan Goff, DE Osi Umenyiora, CB Prince Amukamara etc.) have made many Giants fans leaning toward the edge.

More after the break...

One particular match-up I imagine the Rams will try to exploit is Lance Kendricks working on the Giants linebackers and safeties.  This is a similar game plan to the one they had against the Eagles.  Perhaps if Kendricks does not drop two of the balls thrown his way, that plan would have been a little more successful last Sunday.

While Kendricks was struggling in his first game last week, Redskins tight end Fred Davis was having a career day against the Giants. Davis caught 5 passes for a career-high 105 yards. Three of catches went for 20-plus yards.  Quarterback Rex Grossman was able to find success in the air against a banged up Giants secondary and Davis was his number one target.

Below is Davis’ longest catch of the day. On this particular play, the Redskins are facing 3^rd and 11 from their own 30 yard line.   The Skins come out in 31 personnel.  Davis is in the slot to the bottom of the screen.  He has taken a very tight split, but nevertheless is off the line to allow for a free release.

Pre-snap: The Giants are out of their base defense and in 3-man front (something they normally do not do).  The look is a 3-2-6.  Out of the game is defensive tackle Livall Joseph and into the game is Deon Grant.  Grant is 5 yards off the ball, stacked over the top of Davis.

Notice that both Giants linebacker, Michael Boley and Mathias Kiwanuka are up on the line of scrimmage showing blitz.

Eli Manning had few problems with the Rams pass rush in 2008. This year may be different.

Is is Monday Night yet?

This week's MNF matchup between the St Louis Rams and New York Giants on ESPN has that "big game" feeling already, and the weekend hasn't even started yet. Maybe it's because we have not one, but two Q&A sessions lined up for you on the site this weekend, to help fill the extra time we spend waiting for kickoff. 

Today we talked to Glenn Warciski of UltimateNYG.com, our G-men brethren on the Bloguin network, and got the distinct feeling that all is not well in big blue. Maybe it's a lifelong New Yorker's natural disdain for any team that falls short of the 1929 Yankees, or maybe there are serious cracks in the foundation that Tom Coughlin and Jerry Reese built. I also answered a series of questions for him, which will be posted soon on his site. [UPDATE: Here you go.]

RamsHerd: It seems as though the Giants defense got back on track last year, two years after the loss of Coach Spagnuolo. Do you attribute that to health, the players, or the new coordinator?

UltimateNYG: 2009 was a disaster under defensive coordinator Bill Sheridan.  The Giants gave up 40 points FIVE TIMES.  Last year, without question, was an improvement. 

Defensive coordinator Perry Fewell brought his Tampa 2 scheme to the Giants.  But we do not have the personnel which matches this defense. This is the reason we collapsed at the end of the year. When it counted, the Giants defense did not play well in the second half of the Eagles debacle. And the defense was a no show against the Packers. 

One of our experts, Pete Furman, has called Fewell's defense "Fools Gold".  Because we do not have the personnel, without quality linebackers, the good quarterbacks will pick us apart.  Despite winning 10 games, the Giants were 1-4 against playoff teams.

More after the break...