Outplayed. Outcoached. And out-physicaled. The New York Giants never truly stood a chance against a revved-up Los Angeles Rams team in LA on Monday night. That became especially true when franchise quarterback Jaxson Dart got rocked by pass rushers Byron Young and Josiah Stewart, sending him to the locker room for X-rays on the first drive of the game.
The 28-6 score was about as indicative of how the Giants played as it could have been. They mustered a meager 182 yards of total offense, looking inferior the entire 60 minutes. This was a you-know-what whooping from start to finish.
I had to talk myself down to just six losers, even though I felt like there was enough stuff that went wrong to give out 50. New York will have a short week with the Tennessee Titans coming to MetLife Stadium on Sunday afternoon, setting up a revenge game with former HC Brian Daboll making his first return to North Jersey since being fired last season. The G-Men will have to play a hell of a lot better than they did Monday night if they want to get win No. 2 in Week 3.
But let’s not get too far ahead of ourselves -- it’s time to hand out the hardware.
3 winners and 6 losers from Giants' Week 2 MNF loss to the Rams
Winner: Humility
Just when you thought this season might be different from the recent disasters, following a Week 1 primetime drubbing of the Dallas Cowboys, humility wanted to have a word. Thanks for ruining the good times. They were fun while they lasted.
Winner: Jevón Holland
One interception. One forced fumble and subsequent recovery. One more forced fumble. One damn good night from safety Jevón Holland.
Holland had only one takeaway last season after signing a three-year, $45 million deal. It felt like a classic case of “guy gets the bag and takes the next year off.” Well, as long as that case is closed, Big Blue might have themselves a turnover machine in their secondary.
The 26-year-old now has three takeaways on the season, including back-to-back games with an interception. If it weren’t for Holland, this game would have gotten even more out of control. It’s no exaggeration to say he single-handedly made the Giants watchable on Monday night.
Winner: The third phase
Harbaugh is a special teams guy through and through. It’s why he spent the offseason making sure the concerns on that side of the ball wouldn’t creep their way into 2026. Well, mission successful.
Undrafted rookie kicker Dominic Zvada was finally able to attempt a field goal after only seeing extra-point action in Week 1. His first attempt came from 24 yards out, but it was his 52-yard second attempt that garnered the attention. He absolutely smoked it through the uprights – it looked like it would have been good from 60-plus. The 22-year-old won the kicking job over Ben Sauls for a reason.
Not to be outdone, All-Pro punter Jordan Stout had himself a night. It’s not necessarily ideal that he was on the field so often, but six punts going for 315 total yards (with a booming 78-yarder in there) is chef’s kiss. Who could have ever known that addressing special teams concerns head-on could yield instant results? Crazy.
Loser: Jameis Winston
Jameis Winston is widely regarded as one of, if not the best, backup QBs in the league. He looked nothing of the sort against the Rams.
Aside from being under constant pressure, Famous Jameis just looked off, underthrowing receivers by more yards than he threw for. Winston finished the game completing 11 of his 27 passes for 111 yards and an interception.
If Dart misses any more time with his knee injury, there’s now a legitimate concern that the offense is borderline nonfunctional with Winston under center. The 32-year-old just needs to be better.
Loser: Health
This one speaks for itself. Dart injured his left knee on the first drive and never returned. Malik Nabers injured his shoulder shortly after, although he made it back onto the field shortly after. Then came the fourth-quarter double whammy, with Andrew Thomas leaving with a groin injury before Brian Burns went down with a low-ankle sprain.
At one point, it felt like the Giants were going to need to start wrapping healthy players in bubble wrap just to get them back on the plane home.
The early Burns update is at least encouraging, and Nabers ' return was a massive sigh of relief. Now all eyes turn to Dart and Thomas, because losing either one for an extended period would make an already miserable night in Los Angeles significantly worse.
Loser: Giants offense
182 yards of total offense. 11 first downs. 3.3 yards per play. 52 rushing yards. 27 minutes of possession. Two field goals.
Not. Good. Enough.
The Rams are a Super Bowl-caliber team, and Dart got hurt on the first drive, so we can hunt for excuses all we want, but at the end of the day, this was just a terrible performance by an offense that never found anything resembling a rhythm.
The running game couldn’t help Winston out. The offensive line couldn’t stop a nosebleed. Dart’s absence obviously changes everything, but six points isn’t going to beat anybody.
Loser: Giants' pass rush
Thankfully, Abdul Carter came through with a sack on Matthew Stafford in the third quarter. Otherwise, this fearsome Giants pass rush would have exactly zero sacks through the first two games of the season.
That’s unacceptable for a team with Carter, Burns, and Kayvon Thibodeaux operating as its top pass-rushing trio.
The Giants built this defense around getting after QBs. Through two games, we’ve seen a whole lot of almost getting there and not nearly enough actually getting there. Stafford was far too comfortable for most of the night, throwing for 327 yards and four touchdowns.
Loser: Giants' bully-ball mentality
What happened to being bigger and more physical than everyone? That lasted exactly one week.
Big Blue bullied Dallas in the opener. Against Los Angeles, the G-Men were the ones getting shoved around. They finished with just 52 rushing yards, Winston spent much of the night running for his life, and the Rams controlled the line of scrimmage on both sides.
Harbaugh has spent the entire offseason preaching about building a bigger, stronger, more physical football team. Week 2 looked like the exact opposite.
Loser: John Harbaugh
Well, it was nice being undefeated under Big Blue's new head coach while it lasted. Unfortunately, it only lasted eight days.
Losing Dart on the opening drive obviously threw a grenade into the game plan, and the injuries only piled up from there. Still, Harbaugh’s team got outplayed, outcoached, and out-physicaled on prime time. The good news is that it’s Week 2 and we have 15 games to go.
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