The New York Giants will look to continue a positive season-ending run, as they travel to the Edward Jones Dome to take on the St. Louis Rams. While both teams are out of playoff contention, they've each shown flashes of good play recently and will have matchups worth watching.
One of those big matchups will be seeing how the Rams defend the Giants’ incredible rookie receiver Odell Beckham Jr. Injured to start the season and making his debut in Week 5, only two receivers in the entire NFL have posted higher receiving grades than Beckham Jr.’s +15.4. Not to mention he is doing it without the help of another high level receiver to take some pressure off of him. Quarterback Eli Manning has a QB rating of 128.5 when targeting Beckham Jr., and a rating of 74.1 when targeting any other receiver.
The Rams’ defense has been strong this season, but their biggest concern is their pass coverage. Starting corners E.J. Gaines and Janoris Jenkins have not played poorly by any means, but their combined coverage grade of +2.1 is short of outstanding. Look for the Rams to give safety help over the top on the Giants biggest receiving threat in an effort to keep him at bay. Even that might not matter as Beckham Jr., by receiving grade, is having the best season of any rookie receiver since PFF began grading in 2007.
Here are three other players from each team to look out for in this game.
New York Giants
Henry Hynoski – Second in the NFL among fullbacks with a blocking grade of +5.7, third with a +5.9 overall grade.
Johnathan Hankins – Hankins is one of only three defensive tackles in the league to have a double digit grade in both pass rush (+11.2) and run stop (+11.0).
Jason Pierre-Paul – No 4-3 defensive end has a higher run stop grade than Pierre-Paul’s +17.1.
St. Louis Rams
Aaron Donald – No defensive tackle in the league has a higher overall grade than Donald’s +32.4.
Robert Quinn – Since Week 8, Quinn has had the fourth best overall grade among 4-3 defensive ends at +15.6, and nobody has more than his 10 sacks.
T.J. McDonald – He lines up within 8 yards of the line of scrimmage 64.4% of the time, and when that close has the sixth best Run Stop Percentage among safeties at 8.8%.
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