3 Reasons to Watch Giants-Rams

Pop quiz, hotshot. Among NFC teams, which longtime franchise has the best winning percentage against the Giants? If you answered the Rams (25-14 all-time versus New York), then you also probably just visited pro-footballreference.com.

Were you as shocked to discover this as I was? No? Liar.

The Rams, really. I know they’ve had some terrific teams over the years -- making the playoffs eight straight years from 1973-1980, six times between 1983 and 1989 and five times between 1999 and 2004 -- but the franchise still maintains an aura of stink for me. And that’s largely because -- outside of those cluster playoff runs -- the team has been largely terrible.

Has any franchise ever had a bigger disparity between its highs and lows? When the Rams are good, they remain good for years at a time. When they get on a run of losing -- for example like now; they haven’t made the playoffs since 2004 -- they get into a groove, too.

Would you believe the Rams actually have a winning record all-time? Well, they do, 533-531-2. If they lose their last two games this season, they’ll be exactly .500 all-time, which seems fitting for this proud/embarrassing franchise.

The Giants have actually won the last five games in this matchup, which means at one time they actually had a 9-25 record against the Rams. Bizarre? You betcha.

Can the Giants keep the winning streak going? Here are some other compelling reasons to watch this game:

Great rookies

This game features the runaway winner of the NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year (Odell Beckham Jr.) and a contender for the Defensive Rookie of the Year, Rams defensive tackle Aaron Donald, who has eight sacks on the year, including one sack each in the last five games.

The only thing Eli Manning likes more than looking for Beckham (league high 62 targets in the last five weeks) is taking sacks. Look for the announcers to say Beckham or Donald’s name on 44 consecutive Giants offensive plays.

Great coaches

Don’t you ever watch games simply because the teams are led by accomplished coaches at the height of their powers? Coaches like Jeff Fisher and Tom Coughlin? OK, I tried.

Fantasy football

Want to hear me talk about my fantasy football team? How kind of you, please pull up a chair.

I’m playing in my fantasy football championship this week. The guy I’m playing against has Beckham on his team, which shouldn’t come as a surprise because I read somewhere that Beckham is on more championship-participating teams than any other player in fantasy.

What might strike you as odd is that my opponent has the Rams’ defense while I am currently fielding the Giants’ defense. I say currently because, well, I have watched this Giants team all year -- all through the seven-game losing streak, the horrific Manning interceptions, the Larry Donnell fumbles -- and it occurs to me that pinning my hopes on the Giants’ defense is like playing William Tell, except in this instance I’m putting an apple on my head and asking someone to shoot it off with a heat-seeking missile.

The Giants’ defense has been stout of late, accumulating 22 sacks in the last three weeks. But the Rams’ defense has not allowed a touchdown in three weeks, and could become the first squad since the 2000 Steelers to not allow a touchdown in four straight games.

If the Rams’ defense dominates the Giants (which is distinctly possible), the Giants’ defense is going to be in bad situations all game. Decisions, decisions.

My other option is playing the Broncos versus the Bengals on Monday Night Football. So what do you think … hey, where did you go?

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