The Los Angeles Rams will return from their mini holiday break to face the New York Giants in Week 17. The Giants have been eliminated from playoff contention, but with Brian Daboll fighting for his job, New York isn’t going to go down quietly.
It’s the fourth time the Rams and Giants will square off since 2017, and New York is still looking for its first win against Los Angeles in that span.
Here are seven key stats and facts to know for this weekend’s Rams-Giants showdown at MetLife Stadium.
It’s never easy for a West Coast team to travel across three time zones to play a road game at 1 p.m. ET, but that hasn’t bothered the Rams under McVay since 2017. They’re 9-3 in early Eastern Time games in the last seven years, with one of those losses being their overtime defeat against the Ravens a few weeks ago.
The Rams have scored at least 30 points in nine of those 12 games and have wins by at least 14 points in six games. Their first 1 p.m. ET game on the East Coast came against the Giants in 2017, which they won 51-17.
McVay has faced the Giants a bunch in his career, having spent time in Washington before joining the Rams, so he knows this franchise well. He’s had a ton of success against them since becoming Los Angeles’ head coach in 2017, going a perfect 3-0 against the Giants as a head coach.
The Rams won two of those games very comfortably, too. In 2017, they beat the Giants, 51-17. In 2021, they beat them, 38-11, covering the spread as the favorites both times. Their closest win against New York with McVay was 17-9 in 2020.
The Giants have been awful on offense all season, ranking 31st in total yards and points. A big reason for that is their terrible passing game. The Giants have the fewest passing yards in the NFL (2,296), as well as the fewest first downs (228). For comparison, the Rams are 10th in passing yards (3,628) and ninth in first downs (310).
If this game comes down to how each offense plays, the Rams have a huge advantage.
Kyren Williams comes into the week with three straight 100-yard performances, and he’ll have a great chance to make it four in a row against the Giants. New York has allowed the fourth-most rushing yards in the NFL (2,013) and is giving up the second-most yards per carry (4.7).
Williams is averaging a healthy 5.1 yards per carry and the most yards per game (96.1)in the NFL, making this a very enticing matchup for the Rams’ starting running back. This could be a game where they lean on him and ride his hot hand to victory.
If there’s one thing the Giants do well on defense, it’s stop opponents from converting on third down. The Giants are only allowing teams to convert 37.4% of the time on third down, the 11th-best rate in the NFL. That’s even better than the Rams, who allow a conversion rate of 38.6% on third down.
Los Angeles has been solid on third down offensively this season, ranking 12th overall, but this game could be closer than expected if the Rams can’t move the chains on third down.
The Giants may not be a great team, but their defense forces a lot of turnovers. They’ve picked off 14 passes and recovered 10 fumbles, giving them 24 total takeaways this season. That’s the sixth-most of any team, while their 17 giveaways are the 10th-fewest in the NFL.
It’s surprising a team with a turnover differential as positive as the Giants’ can have such a bad record, but it’s a sign of how inept New York’s offense has been for most of the season.
Stafford has had a lot of success against the Giants in his career, winning four of his six starts against them. He has 11 touchdown passes and five interceptions against the Giants, with an impressive completion rate of 68.6%. In his last two starts against New York, Stafford has completed 78% of his passes and has seven touchdowns with only two interceptions.
In his four wins, Stafford has 11 touchdown passes and two picks, posting a passer rating of at least 110 in each game.