Editor: Joe Bryant. Game Recap Contributors: Mike Anderson, Michael Brown, Chris Burtt, J.D. Caldwell, David Dodds, Jim Enochs, Joel Faulhaber, Michael Flynn, Kevin Goldblum, Clayton Gray, Bob Harris, Fred Hebert, Jesse Hilsenrad, Drew Kendall, Jeff Lewis, Joey Matusek, Justin Oliver, Steve Prosapio, David Shick, Cody Smith, Scott Smith, Jeffrey Stout. NY Giants 26 at St. Louis 21 WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW New York Giants: Kerry Collins completed 22 of 26 passes for 307 yards. He had a ton of time to throw, as the new Giants offensive line did a tremendous job of containing the Rams pressure. Collins stood tall and made strong, accurate throws all game. His one interception was the result of a deflected pass. Considering how this pass defense held up against San Francisco in week 1, you have to respect what the Giants are doing here. Another solid outing against a high powered pass offense. Jeremy Shockey lived up to the hype and then some. He caught 4 balls for 50 yards, including his first NFL touchdown. He made a great move on Tommy Polley to get open. Shockey was the main guy New York looked to on crucial third down calls during the second half. He wants the ball on every single play. Took a lot of pressure off of Amani Toomer and Ike Hilliard, enabling them to get open consistently. Ron Dayne is not a forgotten man in this offense, but he should be. He showed a complete inability to do anything up the middle, which is apparently his strength. Still takes "baby steps" to the line rather than running through with power. Kicker Matt Bryant made all 4 of his field goal attempts. Each was from less than 34 yards, but they were pressure kicks, especially for a new kicker. St. Louis Rams: Kurt Warner banged his hand again during a throw. Up to that point, he was already unproductive but after it he was just awful. After the injury, he: 1) threw a pass to Ernie Conwell that floated to him rather than led him, 2) fumbled a snap, and 3) threw a pass intended for Torry Holt that was intercepted by the Giants William Peterson, effectively ending the game. Commentators mentioned the possibility that the injury caused all three. Marshall Faulk appeared to have a good day running the football, but over half of his yardage came on one 44 yard run. He did have a tremendous touchdown run in which he emerged from a seemingly inescapable pile, but he also was stuffed on a 4th and inches late in the 4th quarter (and subsequently fumbled the ball as he was being driven back). Cornerback Aeneas Williams limped off of the field in the third quarter with an injury later revealed to be a bruised knee. St. Louis got not one, but two chances to come back and win the game. After the Faulk fumble, the Giants went three and out and gave the ball back to the Rams with just under 2 minutes left. One wonders if the '99-'01 Rams would have wasted even one such opportunity to win, let alone two. WHAT YOU OUGHT TO KNOW New York Giants QB: Kerry Collins played an excellent game overall, though he made a few mistakes. He fumbled once at a key point in the game but was bailed out by the refs as they incorrectly ruled him down. On that same play, Tiki Barber was split out wide and completely uncovered and would have had an easy TD, but Collins never saw him. Cris Collinsworth did say, "This is the best I have ever seen him (Collins) play". Collinsworth later relayed a quote from Collins in which Collins claimed, "This is the first time as a Giant that I have felt like the leader". RB: Tiki Barber showed good cutback ability up the middle, but when he was forced to the outside he seemed to have some trouble turning it up. Ron Dayne stunk. He appears to protect himself from the big hit rather than attacking the line and delivering hits to others. WR: Amani Toomer and Ike Hilliard were consistently open all day. Each had over 90 yards receiving against a supposedly good secondary. Hilliard shows no effects from the toe injury we always hear about, and Toomer appears primed for a big season (though he was a non-factor in the first half). TE: Jeremy Shockey had a very good game as a receiver, but it was the little things he did that stood out. He had a key block in which he recognized a corner blitz and picked it up beautifully, allowing Kerry Collins time to complete a long pass to Amani Toomer. Shockey's presence was felt from the opening snap, as the Rams had Cornerback Aeneas Williams covering him at some points. Shockey made a tough reception on a huge 3rd and 3 and again was looked to on 3rd and 6. Giants Pass Defense: CB William Peterson had a huge game, and was declared "MVP" of the game by Cris Collinsworth. Holt and Bruce had their receptions, but were never able to get past the Giants secondary. Much attention was obviously paid to Michael Strahan, which may have allowed Kenny Holmes to sneak in for a sack and pass deflection on successive plays. The deflection went right to Jason Sehorn, who returned it for a touchdown and really put the pressure on the Rams at 17-0. Giants consistently rushed 3 or 4 guys and dropped everyone else into coverage. Giants Rush Defense: Every time Marshall Faulk touched the ball, there seemed to be Giants surrounding him. Every yard he got was earned, as there were almost no lanes created for him to run. New York made an enormous 4th and inches stop of Faulk late in the 4th quarter. Giants Special Teams: Kicker Matt Bryant made 4 field goals in the game. Each was from relatively close distance, but they were all perfect kicks. As the Rams got back into the game, Bryant made 2 clutch field goals to give the Giants some breathing room. /**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/** St. Louis Rams QB: Kurt Warner was already having a sub-par game by his standards when he hurt his hand hitting Keith Hamilton during a pass attempt. Because of the injury history with his throwing hand, Warner owners need to watch this situation very carefully. One positive note, John St. Clair did a great job protecting Warner from Strahan all day. St. Clair of course had help, but he more than held his own against Strahan in one on one situations. RB: It wasn't Faulk's fault that he had such a tough day. The numbers would indicate that Faulk had a fine game (123 total yards, 2 touchdowns), but he really struggled to get to those numbers. 44 of his yards came on one run. There wasn't a hole for him to run through all afternoon, and he appeared visibly frustrated late in the game on the sidelines. WR: Torry Holt had a productive day by a numbers standpoint, but he had several drops that proved costly. He made up for the drops somewhat by making a number of incredible catches, and did a good job of getting open. He was quiet early on, and never was able to get past the DBs for those long passes we are accustomed to. Isaac Bruce had a very good game. Nearly everything thrown in his direction resulted in a catch, and he was targeted on over 10 passes. Like Holt, Bruce was unable to do much downfield because of the Giants pressure and the cornerback play. Ricky Proehl showed why the Rams made a wise decision in bringing him back for this season. He caught a short touchdown from 6 yards out with the Rams trailing 17-0. He always seems to make plays when they need it most, and he came up with the first TD today to try and get them out of an early funk. TE: Ernie Conwell wasn't much of a factor in the game. Warner had enough trouble locating primary targets Holt, Bruce, and Faulk. By the time he could get to the 4th option, Giants pass-rushers were on him. Rams Pass Defense: Really struggled containing TE Shockey, and when Aeneas Williams left the game due to injury, Collins picked them apart. Every time the Rams offense would score and get the game close again, the defense would fall apart and allow the Giants to throw the ball all over the place. Rams Rush Defense: Did an adequate job on Barber and completely stuffed Dayne. Luckily for them, Dayne got numerous carries in short yardage situations. Every short yardage spot that Barber was in for, he converted. Every spot Dayne was in for, he failed. Rams Special Teams: Perhaps Jeff Wilkins should put his shoes back on. Kicking shoeless for the second straight game, Wilkins missed his second field goal in as many games after missing just 6 the previous two seasons combined.