With so many teams before them having failed to stop New York Giants receiver Odell Beckham Jr., the St. Louis Rams added a little extra element to their defensive game plan this week: intimidation.
In the end, however, the Giants got the last laugh by smacking their bully in the mouth and taking home a 37-27 victory.
“They were physical and played to the whistle, maybe even a little bit beyond sometimes,” quarterback Eli Manning said, via the Giants’ postgame radio broadcast.
“We were prepared for that. We didn’t let them get to us, we didn’t let them get into our head and we kept playing strong and had a big second half as well."
Beckham, the target of much of the Rams’ aggressive play, told reporters in his postgame press conference that he suspected he was a marked man.
“Since the first play it felt as if there was a bunch of hawks and they were all eyeing you,” he said. “We knew that was going to be the case.”
The Rams took things to an all-time high late in the second quarter on a six-yard reception.
The play, however, reached new heights when linebacker Alec Ogletree, who made the tackle, went a little too far.
“[Ogletree] took me out of bounds and then I’m all the way outside on the white where he tried to pick me up and dunk me,” Beckham said, admitting that he “kind of lost my temper.”
While Beckham began jawing at the linebacker, his teammates came rushing to his defense. They were quickly joined by Rams players, and soon there was a lot of pushing and shoving on the sideline with some punches being thrown.
When the officials finished sorting everything out, Giants receiver Preston Parker, defensive end Damontre Moore and Rams defensive end William Hayes were ejected from the game.
According to Rams head coach Jeff Fisher, the Rams defense may have been irked by something that Beckham reportedly said before the game.
“Someone said [Beckham] said came out and said he was going to set an NFL record today against the defense early this morning,” Fisher said in his postgame press conference.
Regardless, once order was restored and the Giants went into the half with a 20-13 lead, head coach Tom Coughlin delivered a stern message to his players.
“Just to keep our composure,” Beckham said, via the Giants’ postgame radio broadcast, when asked what Coughlin’s message was to the team. “[The Rams] are going to take shots at us [and] they’re going to be gunning for you, so stay calm.”
In addition to keeping their composure, the resilient Giants began fighting back against the Rams—on the football field and within the rules of the game.
On its first possession of the third quarter, New York marched 87 yards down the field, the drive ending in a seven-yard touchdown reception by receiver Rueben Randle.
On that drive, running back Andre Williams ripped off a 45-yard run that temporarily took some of the air out of the Rams’ balloon.
“We had a lot of inside zone in the game plan this week,” Williams said after the game. “You look at the film and Arizona had a lot of success running the inside zone so we figured that we could have the same success.
“In the first half we ran one and I missed a huge cutback and I told myself I wasn’t going to miss it again. The opportunity came where it showed itself again and I just had the wherewithal to hit it that time.”
The Rams quickly regrouped on their next possession, however, as quarterback Shaun Hill connected with tight end Lance Kendricks on a 23-yard touchdown pass to narrow the Giants’ lead to seven.
The Rams apparently weren’t finished with trying to send a message to Beckham. On the Giants’ next possession, a defender appeared to launch himself at the rookie on a second-down pass from Manning that fell incomplete.
However, the defender ended up taking out cornerback E.J. Gaines, who had to leave the game for evaluation of a head injury and a lacerated lip.
Beckham made the Rams pay for any malicious intentions on the very next play when he connected with Manning on an eight-yard touchdown reception to give the Giants a commanding 34-20 lead to close out the third quarter.
In the fourth quarter, the Giants added their final points of the game on a 52-yard field goal by kicker Josh Brown, who earlier converted on 29- and 37-yard attempts.
The Rams did get one final touchdown, that coming on a blown coverage by the Giants' defensive secondary which resulted in a 47-yard touchdown catch by receiver Chris Givens.
While Coughlin wasn’t happy he lost two players in the ruckus that occurred just before the half, he did express relief that his team settled down and regained its focus.
“The one thing I complimented our players on is that we did not allow any distraction to keep us from the reason we came here,” he said. “We came to win and we did win.”
Moving forward, however, Coughlin said he would like Beckham to tone down his end-zone celebrations, one of which the receiver was flagged for this week.
“That was an issue, because here we are kicking off from the 20-yard line and they got the ball with great field position,” Coughlin said.
“I didn’t quite understand the penalty, but it was something that was a penalty,” Beckham said after the game.
“Coach Coughlin addressed it with me and he said, ‘You know we can’t get those,’ and I completely understand. That’s just being young and trying to learn the rules and what you can and can’t do. I didn’t know that was going to be a penalty or I would have never done it.”
Message received, as on his 80-yard touchdown reception, Beckham picked up the ball and handed it to an official.
“I didn’t want to hear anything else,” he said.
Patricia Traina covers the Giants for Inside Football and The Sports Xchange. All postgame quotes via the St. Louis Rams public relations office unless otherwise sourced. Follow me on Twitter @Patricia_Traina.
Source: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2307275-giants-show-resiliency-maturity-in-37-27-win-over-rams
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