Giants outmatched in 28-6 loss to Rams after losing Jaxson Dart to injury

After a positive start to the season with their opening day win over the Dallas Cowboys, it looks like the New York Giantsare going to have some adversity to deal with.

The Giants suffered a major blow on their first drive as quarterback Jaxson Dartsuffered a knee injury that would rule him out for the rest of the night. The Los Angeles Rams capitalized on Dart's absence as Matthew Stafford paced them with four touchdown passes in a 28-6 blowout win. Things went from bad to worse in the fourth quarter, as the also lost defensive leader Brian Burns, who limped off with an ankle injury.

Los Angeles took the lead late in the first quarter on Stafford's 32-yard touchdown pass to Davante Adams, then extended their lead to 14-0 on Stafford's 11-yard scoring strike to Kyren Williams.

New York finally got on the board in the last minute of the first half with a short field goal by rookie kicker Dominic Zvada, but the Rams were able to extend their lead to 21-3 on another Stafford pass to Adams in the third quarter, this time from 11 yards out.

After Zvada's 52-yard field goal, the Rams further extended their lead in the fourth quarter on Stafford's fourth touchdown pass to tight end Terrance Ferguson to close out the scoring.

Here are the key takeaways...

-- Dart's injury obviously derailed their gameplan after he had completed three of his first four passes on a promising opening drive, but New York didn't get the steadying influence they would have hoped from backup Jameis Winston. The veteran completed just one of his first six pass attempts for one yard, then threw an interception after the Giants had driven down inside the red zone with a chance to cut the Rams' 14-0 lead in half. He ended up with 111 passing yards as he completed just 11-of-27 passes.

-- The Rams were able to exploit rookie Arvell Reese in coverage a few times. On the Williams touchdown in the first half, Reese was out of position in zone coverage, then gave up 20 yards to the tight end Ferguson as he was slow to react to the slant route. Reese had previously come out of the game after getting caught inside on a 16-yard Blake Corum run up the middle. A few plays later, Adams scored the opening touchdown as Reese's replacement, Zaire Barnes, was the closest defender in zone coverage. Reese was around the football a lot, and ended up with seven tackles, but there are clearly still some holes in his game.

- Safety Tyler Nubin also had a rough day in coverage as he was involved in a few coverage breakdowns and took some over-aggressive angles in pursuit. He was also burned deep by Adams for a big play in the first half.

- The Giants' other first rounder, Francis Mauigoa, had a couple of negative plays after a clean game in the opener. The returning Aaron Donald bull-rushed him into Dart on an early snap and Braden Fisk beat him for a fourth quarter hit on Winston with the Giants backed up near their own end zone. Otherwise, he held his own in a tough assignment against one of the league's top defensive fronts, although he had a false start in the fourth quarter.

- New York was always going to be undermanned in the secondary with Deonte Banks out and Paulson Adebo just having been placed on injured reserve. They played plenty of zone coverage, perhaps to protect rookie Colton Hood, who was forced to make his first NFL start. However, Hood was exposed a few times, as Tutu Atwell completely lost him on a downfield catch and Adams beat him on a fade route for his second score.

- Safety Jevon Holland did his best to keep the Giants in the game by forcing two turnovers in the second quarter. Holland intercepted a deep pass two plays after Winston had been intercepted, then forced and recovered a Williams fumble on the first play of the Rams' next drive. He also forced another fumble in the fourth quarter, but the Rams recovered that one.

- The Giants pass rush didn't do a good enough job of getting pressure on Stafford, although Abdul Carter had an impressive sack as he split a double team. Aside from that, New York had just one quarterback hit, by Burns.

- In addition to Dart and Burns, New York also had concern over a Malik Nabersshoulder injury in the first half. The good news was that Nabers returned to action. However, he was a complete non-factor as he had just one catch for one yard on four targets. Nabers is still gaining confidence in his surgically repaired knee, so this game was an obvious setback for him. Tackle Andrew Thomas also left the game with a fourth quarter injury.

Game MVP: Rams WR Davante Adams

With Puka Nacua out, the 33-year old Adams rolled back the years with a sensational string of spectacular catches as he proved completely unstoppable against New York's banged-up secondary. Despite not recording a catch after his second touchdown midway through the third quarter, Adams ended up with 195 yards on eight catches, including two touchdowns and a 64-yard catch-and-run to set up another score.

Highlights

Jaxson Dart limped off the field under his own power after taking this hit pic.twitter.com/f5fIngrXIb

- SNY Giants (@SNYGiants) September 22, 2026

Jaxson Dart goes back to the locker room pic.twitter.com/oyKrsX28i3

- SNY Giants (@SNYGiants) September 22, 2026

Malik Nabers is in pain on the Giants' sideline after suffering an apparent injury on this play pic.twitter.com/H3hvoux92x

- SNY Giants (@SNYGiants) September 22, 2026

Jameis Winston Darnell Mooney! pic.twitter.com/RCgqBZWcwl

- SNY Giants (@SNYGiants) September 22, 2026

Another pick for Jevon Holland! pic.twitter.com/auAqjRHLvp

- SNY Giants (@SNYGiants) September 22, 2026

Jevon Holland forces ANOTHER turnover pic.twitter.com/Wl7OsNOrgg

- SNY Giants (@SNYGiants) September 22, 2026

Brian Burns was helped off the field by two Giants trainers after this play pic.twitter.com/FMpMsS2ZmE

- SNY Giants (@SNYGiants) September 22, 2026

Up next

Big Blue returns home on Sunday, when they will look to bounce back against the 0-2 Tennessee Titans. Kickoff is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. ET on Sunday, September 27th.