NY Giants outclassed in all facets as Rams coast to 38-11 win | Takeaways

The undermanned NY Giants were flatly embarrassed in a blowout loss to the Los Angeles Rams, showing how far they are from competing

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — What happens when a team that lacks star power, enters a game with some of its most important players sidelined due to injury, lines up against a team that boasts a Super Bowl caliber roster? Games like Sunday’s 33-11 NY Giants loss to the Los Angeles Rams.

At no point did the NY Giants look like they belonged on the same field as the Rams, during a game where even the lopsided final score didn’t even indicate how uncompetitive the game was.

NY Giants offensive tackle Nate Solder allowing Leonard Floyd to strip Daniel Jones on the game’s first play from scrimmage was a harbinger of things to come for an offensive line that hit rock bottom against Aaron Donald, Leonard Floyd, and the Rams.

Kadarius Toney getting knocked from the game with an ankle injury after catching three passes on the NY Giants’ first possession made the uphill climb of upsetting Matthew Stafford and the Rams even steeper.

That the Giants’ pass rush continued to struggle generating consistent pressure allowed Stafford plenty of time to carve up an overmatched secondary, with a 251-yard and four-touchdown performance, with 196 of those yards and three scores coming before halftime.

Meanwhile, Daniel Jones’ three interceptions seemed equally a testament to being the byproduct of a quarterback seeing ghosts amid a constant barrage of pressure than any poor decision Jones made.

Jones finished Sunday 28-for-50 passing for 241 yards with three interceptions, and a lost fumble. The Rams’ pressure brought out the worst in Jones, but late it seemed as though there was no benefit to keeping him in the game behind a patchwork offensive line.

Now 1-6, the mounting losses pale in comparison to the NY Giants mounting injuries and the lack of depth that they have exposed on this roster.

Eventually, even Sean McVay took pity on the Giants, pulling Stafford in favor of John Wolford, and resting multiple offensive starters with 10:00 remaining in the fourth quarter, and Los Angeles leading by 35.

There are now no easy fixes. But it is becoming clear that this roster, and this team as it is constructed is one of the NFL’s most dysfunctional, on both sides of the football.

Here are key takeaways from Sunday’s NY Giants loss to the Rams:

The NY Giants’ offensive line reaches crisis point

On the NY Giants’ opening possession, Leonard Floyd blew past Solder like a free-rusher, and stripped Daniel Jones but Solder’s day got worse from there.

At one point, the NY Giants made the decision to keep running back Devontae Booker in the backfield to chip Floyd, in an effort to help Solder, which seemed to allow Jones time in the pocket.

However, Solder’s poor play and the fact that New York’s coaching staff continues to play him would seem to raise questions about Matt Peart’s ability.

Those questions were answered, when Andrew Thomas was knocked out of the game due to an injury.

Peart replaced Thomas at left tackle, and on his second play allowed Floyd to strip Jones and then failed to fall on the football.

Between the NY Giants’ struggles at offensive tackle, Thomas’ injury, and Billy Price failing to spring Devontae Booker on a really well designed screen pass in the first quarter, New York’s offensive line continues to show that it is woefully inadequate.

Matthew Stafford, Rams make easy work of NY Giants’ secondary

Matthew Stafford and his band of wide receivers; Cooper Kupp and Robert Woods in particular, dictated to the NY Giants’ secondary all afternoon, exploiting the youth of New York’s defensive backs.

On Woods’ first touchdown, it seemed Julian Love fell down in the middle of the field, getting beaten by a rub route that created all kinds of space for Woods to streak into and make the catch en route to the end zone.

Later, Stafford made a perfectly-placed throw near the sideline to Kupp, who hauled it in against Adoree’ Jackson, after being him by a step in his route, and extending past the pylon for the touchdown.

There was some hope entering this season that the secondary would be one of the Giants’ strengths, but against a top quarterback and receiving corps Sunday, the Rams showed just how far away this group is.

Gulph between NY Giants and competing is wider than ever

There’s no question that the NY Giants being significantly undermanned, due to injuries to Barkley, Golladay, Toney, and Thomas made an impact in Sunday’s game, but this loss illustrated just how far away New York is from competing against this league’s upper-echelon teams.

Los Angeles has a roster capable of making a legitimate run at home field advantage throughout the NFC Playoffs, and likely would have entered Sunday as a five-plus point favorite against a healthy Giants team.

However, despite the resources the NY Giants have invested in the secondary, they were easily exploited because they haven’t invested nearly enough in the pass-rush over the past three to four offseasons.

NY Giants general manager Dave Gettleman and the front office have spent several years attempting to “manufacture” a pass-rush around third-round NFL Draft picks (Lorenzo Carter, Oshane Ximines), second-round picks (Azeez Ojulari), and bargain free agent signings.

In today’s NFL, without an elite pass-rush, it’s almost impossible to win.

The result of the NY Giants trying to build a pass-rush around lower-priced players was Matthew Stafford passing for 251 yards with four touchdowns to one interception, as the secondary was asked to hold their coverage far longer than should be expected.

Los Angeles was always going to be a favorite on Sunday, against this NY Giants team, but New York is going to struggle to compete so long as its pass rush continues to make such a minimal impact.

Matt Lombardo is FanSided’s National NFL Insider and writes Between The Hash Marks each Wednesday. Email Matt: Matt.Lombardo@FanSided.com.