New York Giants (1-0) @ St. Louis Rams (0-1)
1:00 PM Sunday, September 14th, 2008
Edward Jones Dome, St. Louis, Missouri
65-68°F 20% chance of rain, Winds 24 MPH WNW
TV: FOX
Giants Injury Report:
OUT: Terrell Thomas (hamstring), Lawrence Tynes (left knee)
QUESTIONABLE: R.W. McQuarters (calf)
PROBABLE: Jonathan Goff (back), Mathias Kiwanuka (ankle), Jerome McDougle (knee)
Rams Injury Report:
OUT: Drew Bennett (foot)
DOUBTFUL: Leonard Little (hamstring)
QUESTIONABLE: Jacob Bell (hamstring)
PROBABLE: Donnie Avery (knee), Donnie Jones (right knee), Travis Minor (thigh), James Hall (thigh)
The Rams (0-1) will host the Giants (1-0) at 1:00 this afternoon, following their embarrassing 38-3 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles last week. The Giants are well rested and haven’t played since their 16-7 victory over the Redskins on September 4th, 10 days ago. The Giants won the last time these two teams met in 2005 by a score of 44-24 in St. Louis.
The Giants will look to extend their road winning streak to 12 games.
New York really has the upper hand in this matchup and I really expect a win here, but anything can happen. St. Louis’ pass defense was atrocious last week and let up 414 passing yards. They also let up 522 total yards. Look for Plaxico Burress and Eli Manning to have big games. Burress hauled in 10 receptions for 204 yards and two touchdowns the last time the Giants played the Rams.
The Giants started the game off great last week on offense, but began to falter after just a few drives. They really altered their play calling a bit to play more conservatively, but I don’t expect them to that as much this week if they take an early lead.
Last week the Rams rushed for just 40 yards. 36 of those came from Steven Jackson, who averaged just 2.9 yards per carry. Jackson only had 14 carries, but he’ll need to step his game up and carry the load for this team. Jackson’s troubles were mostly because of his offensive line, who allowed quarterback Marc Bulger to be sacked four times. It’ll be tough for Jackson, considering the Giants held Clinton Portis in check for 84 rushing yards on 23 carries.
On the other hand, New York rushed for 154 yards on 32 carries. Brandon Jacobs and Derrick Ward both had excellent games, but look for them to get Ahmad Bradshaw more involved in the offense this week. Bradshaw didn’t carry the ball at all last week.
Go Giants!
