INGLEWOOD, Calif. — All week, the Rams talked about finding a rhythm on offense as early as possible. On Monday Night Football against the Giants, the Rams had no issues finding that rhythm and the defense completely shut down New York's offense.
Los Angeles won its home opener 28-6, not allowing a touchdown and only allowing two Giants drives to enter the red zone. The offense was led by four passing touchdowns from quarterback Matthew Stafford and 195 receiving yards and two touchdowns from wide receiver Davante Adams.
Rams head coach Sean McVay, Adams, Stafford and defensive end Aaron Donald all spoke on the win.
"We're at our best when we play 11 as one. When we're connected on all three levels, when we're hitting blocks, when we're finishing in protection, distributing the field, and that's what we want to be able to be about." - McVay
Although the first series on offense was a three and out, Stafford and his crew found their rhythm on the ensuing drive and scored their first of four touchdowns on the evening. Feeding off the energy of the defense, a group that didn't allow a touchdown all game, the offense kept its rhythm throughout the game and lived up to the "11 as one" motto McVay is looking for on a week by week basis.
When asked about energy and execution, McVay compared the win in Week 2 against the Giants to the loss in Week 1 against the 49ers as "sometimes you win, sometimes you learn."
"Obviously we're happy about it. We're thrilled to win, and any win in this league is one to celebrate. But when you look back, it's you're trying to be great and be a be a Super Bowl caliber team. You got to hold yourself to a high standard, and I think we can do a little bit better than we did." - Adams
The Rams' standards are certainly high considering they ended with 481 yards of total offense and still aren't satisfied with the mistakes that were few and far between.
Despite finishing with two touchdowns and 195 receiving yards himself, Adams recognizes there's more to clean up on the offensive side as a whole. Although the Rams are holding themselves to a high standard, Adams acknowledges how the Rams "came out aggressive" and took shots on offense, many of which paid off with long completions to Adams from Stafford.
"I thought our guys came out and played great, played with a bunch of passion, energy. Excited to be back home in SoFi. Our defense led the charge, played fantastic, kept them out of the end zone, and obviously made some big plays, some turnovers, fourth-down stops, those kind of things that we were able to rally on." - Stafford
The Giants offense only had two drives reach the red zone. The first had only one play inside the 20 and it was an interception by cornerback Trent McDuffie. The second was the result of a fumble by running back Kyren Williams on the 11-yard line where the Rams defense held the Giants to a field goal. Both drives were in the first half.
It was an all around dominant performance by the Rams defense that gave life to the Rams offense. "We did enough offensively, still left some plays out there. We're a little bit, not as efficient as I would have liked in certain areas," Stafford said.
"Today, the defense played how we were supposed to play. Always got room for improvement, right? So it was a good start, good win. Enjoyed the day, and we're going back to work tomorrow." - Donald
In Donald's debut back as a Ram following his retirement, he impressed with three tackles, including one for a loss.
Even though he didn't play a week ago when Los Angeles gave up 27 points to San Francisco, Donald was eager to strike back with a win. "It's about team football, finding ways to win as a team, and we did that today," Donald said.
