The undefeated New York Giants visit the winless Los Angeles Rams tonight as the National Football League brings the curtain down on second week action.
Did I just state that the Giants are “undefeated” and the Rams “winless?”
Right, I know this is not what we expected when these two NFC teams come together tonight but it is not the first time a highly regarded team has been favored by six to eight points at home off an opening loss against a team that won in their opener. In fact, this is the 16th time we’ve had such a second week matchup since 2000, and one of them was yesterday.
In this same stadium, SoFi, the Los Angeles Chargers were coming off their upset opening loss to the Arizona Cardinals and hosting the Las Vegas Raiders, who beat the highly suspect Miami Dolphins in Week One. The Chargers were favored by 6½ points to get their first win against the suspect Raiders, and lost the game straight-up, 26-14.
Can the Giants pull off another upset in Southern California tonight?
Historically, the favorite, that being the Rams, will win this game. Stats show that the 15 previous games with an opening loser favored by a touchdown give or take a point are 9-6 straight up. But factor in the point spread, and the underdogs have an 8 to 7 edge on the line.
But, before we get lost in numbers, shouldn’t we just open our eyes?
This is the Rams, the favorites coming into the season to win it all and at home off a loss. This is a slam dunk for the home team.
Isn’t it?
John Harbaugh, following 18 highly successful seasons as head coach of the Baltimore Ravens, is in his first season with the New York Giants. His coaching showed up in their opener when they beat the favored Dallas Cowboys at MetLife Stadium, 28-20. One area of concern and promise for this emerging New York team is second-year quarterback Jaxson Dart. In his rookie year, Dart had signs of brilliance but lapses that had him looking like a rookie out of his league. Then we saw him work in his first game after absorbing Harbaugh’s coaching.
In his victory over the Cowboys the most notable difference in Dart’s play was his presence in the pocket. In his rookie season, if his first read was covered, he immediately relied on his legs to make a play work. Last week, against the Cowboys, the game seems to have slowed down enough that the young signal caller showed a heightened ability to stay in the pocket and get to his second and third reads if the first one was covered.
It was that ability that was crucial to the Giants upsetting the Cowboys last week.
Will it be enough to upend the Rams on their home field tonight?
I think not … but don’t want to tempt fate by going against a winner while giving points to last week’s loser.
The Rams will be without newly acquired defensive lineman Myles Garrett tonight, who is out with an injury. They will get their first look this season at Aaron Donald, who ended a two-year retirement to rejoin the Rams a couple weeks ago.
Without Garrett and how Darnold will do after a two-year layoff create just enough uncertainty for Sean McVay’s squad that could work to their advantage motivationally. I like betting against favorites when they have no concerns. The Rams have plenty with both a lopsided loss to the 49ers in Australia in their opener and the loss of Garrett for this game.
Enough to side with the home team tonight in a bar, but not enough to put money on them.