Giants vs. Rams: Breaking Down New York's Game Plan

The New York Giants wrap up their 2014 road-game schedule this weekend in St. Louis, where they will face a Rams team that has won three of its last five games, including a 22-7 blowout of the defending AFC champion Denver Broncos last month.

The Rams (6-8) have been an interesting team this year. When they win, they have done so in grand style, outscoring opponents 158-60 in their six wins, two of which were dominating shutouts.

Their losses, at least lately, have been a lot closer, each being no more than seven points. That is not bad for a team that lost its starting quarterback, Sam Bradford, earlier in the year.

OK, so what about the game and what it means for the Giants, who are looking to increase their winning streak to three games?

Fans might not want to hear it, but head coach Tom Coughlin’s objective is to build positive momentum so that this lost season of theirs ends on a high note.

“You’ve got something to prove every day you’re on the face of this earth,” he said in his weekly press conference introducing the opponent.

That something for this Giants team—and yes, that includes the coaches—is jobs.

That’s why Coughlin, who, according to Steve Serby of the New York Post, has a “99.9 percent chance” of returning in 2015, doesn’t want to mail in the rest of the season.

Coughlin has always been about winning, and while his team has a tough task on the road this week, it is not about to lie down until the very final whistle has blown and officially closed the curtain on the 2014 campaign.

The Series

This will be the 40th regular-season meeting between the Giants and Rams, with St. Louis leading the series 25-14. The Giants are 5-13 against the Rams on the road but have won the last two. New York also has a five-game winning streak against the Rams.

Unit	Giants	Rams
Quarterback	X
Running Backs		X
Tight Ends		X
Wide Receivers	X
Offensive Line	X
Defensive Line		X
Linebackers		X
Defensive Secondary	X
Special Teams		X

The Game Plan

Giants on Offense

While the world awaits what wonders the creation that is Odell Beckham Jr. has in store for this week’s opponent, the real show worth watching is going to be in the pit.

Rams defensive end Robert Quinn and defensive tackle Aaron Donald have combined for 18.5 of the Rams’ 26.0 sacks this season. In this matchup, Donald, the rookie, will line up across from John Jerry, the veteran, so let’s focus on that matchup, as it could be one of the key ones in the pit.

Christian Petersen/Getty Images

Donald, listed at 6’1”, 285 pounds, is not very big for an interior defensive lineman and would theoretically not be much of a match for the 6’5”, 340-pound Jerry.

However, Donald has made his mark thanks to his first quick step, speed being something that Jerry just hasn’t handled all that well this year.

Per Pro Football Focus (subscription required), his minus-4.2 grade is the second-worst mark on the Giants’ offensive line, just ahead of center J. D. Walton’s minus-7.4 mark (yes, the same Walton who will probably be called upon to provide double-teams).

If Jerry is going to school the rookie, he needs to put his size advantage to good use.

That means no finessing Donald—as the rookie is just too quick to be stopped by an advanced game of pat-a-cake, such as what Jerry has done on more than one occasion this season when blocking defensive linemen.

B/R's Kevin Boilard, by the way, has a good study on Donald and how he has been succeeding against veteran offensive linemen this season. 

Circling back to Beckham, it needs to be noted that the Rams have not allowed an opposing touchdown in 12 quarters of play and have not allowed an opposing receiver to record 100 receiving yards in a game since Keenan Allen of the San Diego Chargers finished with 104 yards on six receptions on November 23.

Can Beckham be the difference?

Alex Goodlett/Getty Images

Obviously, if the Giants offensive line wins its battle in the pit, that is a start, as it will allow quarterback Eli Manning the time to get the ball to Beckham.

However, if things start to look hairy in the pass-blocking game, it might behoove the Giants to try more quick throws to Beckham in the flats and let his legs do the rest of the work.

On the deep ball, Beckham is almost certain to receive bracket coverage. He will also probably be jammed more than ever before as he comes off the line of scrimmage.

Put Beckham in a one-on-one situation against a cornerback—in this case, he’ll most likely draw cornerback Janoris Jenkins, who, per PFF, has a 111.6 NFL rating—and he should be able to win the majority of these matchups given that Jenkins tends to gamble a bit too much in coverage.

Giants on Defense

The two strengths of the Rams offense just so happen to be the Achilles' heels of the Giants defense.

Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images

First, there is the running game, which features Tre Mason, Zac Stacy and Benny Cunningham. Mason, the rookie, has actually jumped ahead of Stacy, last year’s rushing leader, as the reliable workhorse.

Of course, if you look at Mason’s last two performances—which came against Washington and the Arizona Cardinals, who combined to hold him to 99 yards on 33 carries—you wouldn’t know it.

The Giants’ 30th-ranked run defense, however, won’t be mistaken any time soon for the top 10 run defenses fielded by Washington (No. 8) or the Cardinals (No. 6).

Besides playing their gaps inconsistently, the Giants’ tackling hasn’t been as crisp as you’d like it to be at this point in the season.

That’s not a good thing either, as per PFF, 352 of Mason’s 668 rushing yards have come after contact.

Stopping Mason is simple.

First, play sound gap responsibility in the middle and contain the edges. The last thing the Giants want to see happen is their defensive ends flowing inward toward the play, the edge thereby opening up wider than the Grand Canyon.

Second, exercise proper tackling techniques. Arm and ankle tackles aren’t going to cut it against Mason, who needs to be wrapped tighter than a holiday present, lest he spoil the party should he wriggle free.

Nick Wass/Associated Press

The other weapon the Rams will probably make heavy use of is their tight end, Jared Cook, who’s also their leading receiver.

The Giants have had all kinds of problems defending the middle of the field, and it doesn’t help that Jacquian Williams, their most athletic linebacker, is now on injured reserve.

So how might they deal with Cook and the receiving threat he poses? The answer is to deploy a heavy dose of the three-safety set featuring Antrel Rolle, Stevie Brown and Quintin Demps.

Giants on Special Teams 

Not that there should be any doubt about what the Giants should do regarding special teams coordinator Tom Quinn after this season, but this game could very well play a big part in what happens moving forward.

The Rams’ special teams, coached by John Fassel, son of former Giants head coach Jim Fassel, aren’t afraid to do a little trickery.

The sad thing is that the trickery the Rams use doesn’t involve smoke or mirrors. It doesn’t necessitate hours of Googling the answer to how they did it.

If a team doesn’t want to be burned by the Rams, all it needs to do is pay attention. It’s really that simple.

OK, so who is the master illusionist on the field for the Rams?

“They have an exceptional punter in that he was a scout team quarterback at Oregon State when he was in college, he throws the ball very well,”  Coughlin said in his Wednesday press conference.

“They do have that ability, everyone has the fullback run-type things. When properly utilized, obviously, it can be very, very, good, it can create another possession for you, literally.”

That exceptional punter is Johnny Hekker, a third-year pro out of Oregon State. As a punter, Hekker has the second-highest overall rank among his position, per PFF, and is tied with Thomas Morstead of the New Orleans Saints for the sixth-best net punting average in the league (42.4).

As a passer, he has completed five of six passes for 79 yards and one touchdown.

First, let’s look at a field-goal conversion made by the Rams to set the stage.

Credit: NFL Game Rewind

In this frame, you can see that all 11 members of the Rams’ field-goal unit are present and accounted for, meaning that the field-goal attempt is actually going to be a legitimate attempt and not a fake.

So how can the Giants spot a fake coming?

It’s as easy as 1-2-3.

Let’s look at Hekker’s lone touchdown pass from a 2012 game against the Seattle Seahawks, a pass caught by Danny Amendola.

Credit: NFL Game Rewind

The very first thing to notice about the formation is that there are only 10 Rams lined up for the field goal—Amendola, the intended receiver, is not even in the frame—against 11 Seahawks, all of whom are focused on the kicker and the holder.

That “mismatch” right there should have been the first clue for Seattle that a little trickery was coming. However, the Seahawks just weren’t paying attention.

So what happened when the ball was snapped? The Seahawk, marked in the yellow X, drifted back a little, keeping his eye on Hekker (blue circle), who can be seen starting to stand up to throw the ball.

Credit: NFL Game Rewind

What that defender should have done, though, was recognize that Amendola was leaking out behind him and drop back into coverage, since there was realistically not enough time to rush at Hekker, but there was plenty of time to drop into coverage to possibly break up the pass to Amendola.

In doing nothing, the Seahawks gift-wrapped an all-too-easy touchdown for their division rivals.

So what can the Giants’ special teams take from this to make sure they don’t get burned?

First, always make sure that all 11 men on the Rams’ field-goal unit are accounted for. If there is a 10-on-11 situation, a fake field goal is coming.

If the Giants should miss this first check, the guys playing off the line need to look behind them to see if any stray Rams receivers might be sneaking into the end zone for a potential pass.

If there are, drop into coverage immediately. Given the bang-bang nature of the play, the shortest path to success is the right one. In this case, the right path is to drop into coverage, where the receiver is a lot easier to get to than the passer.

Remember, it’s not magic; it’s a matter of paying attention by all 11 men lining up for the Giants.

See? It really is as easy as 1-2-3.

Giants	Rams
LB Jameel McClain (knee) – DNP	C Scott Wells (non-injury related) - DNP
RB Rashad Jenings (ankle) - DNP

Key Giants Injury: RB Rashad Jennings

In his conference call with reporters on Monday, Coughlin said he wasn’t sure if running back Rashad Jennings, who aggravated his ankle injury on the first play from scrimmage in last week’s win over Washington, was “back to square one” with his injury.

Well, the bad news is that Jennings, who wasn’t on the injury report last week, is back on it and appears to be pretty close to being back to square one.

Not only was he absent for practice on Wednesday, but he was also spotted in the locker room with his ailing ankle elevated.

Wesley Hitt/Getty Images

Jennings, for his part, is always optimistic about being ready for every game, telling reporters who asked if he was back to square one, “I’m not going with that approach. We’ve got two more games and I’m putting myself in position to finish strong in both of them.”

Jennings hopes to get in some practice this week, but in all honesty, it would not be a shock if the Giants’ medical staff holds him out.

At this point, there’s really nothing more to play for, and if Jennings continues to insist on pushing himself to play through his injury, he runs the risk of making it worse, thereby potentially requiring surgery that would delay the start of his offseason training.

For planning purposes, figure that Andre Williams and Orleans Darkwa—the latter of whom told me that he believes he’s reached enough of a comfort level in pass protection to the point where he thinks he’s earned the coaches’ trust to be on the field more—will get the call on Sunday in the running game.

Prediction 

Ezra Shaw/Getty Images

If there is one thing you rarely have to worry about when it comes to the Giants, it’s their effort.

Somehow, some way, this team understands that, regardless of what is at stake at the end of the day, it has to play hard. And that’s a testament to Coughlin and the respect the players have for him—win or lose.

However, let’s be realistic. While the Rams are not a playoff team and don’t have a winning record, compared to the other teams the Giants have played that have had losing records the Rams are the best of the bunch the Giants will have faced all season.

The Rams are also a tough, well-coached team with playmakers in just the right spots to counter the Giants’ strengths, and perhaps most importantly, they have the competitive edge to nullify the strengths of the banged-up Giants team in addition to the home-field advantage.

Rams 24, Giants 20

2014 Season Prediction Record: 9-5

Patricia Traina covers the Giants for Inside Football and The Sports Xchange. All quotes and information obtained firsthand unless otherwise sourced. Follow me on Twitter @Patricia_Traina.