Add The California Post on Google Maybe all the Los Angeles Rams needed was a good night’s sleep.
Eleven days after stumbling off a plane and getting embarrassed by the San Francisco 49ers in Melbourne, Australia, the Rams looked much more like themselves on Monday Night Football.
Matthew Stafford threw for 327 yards and four touchdowns, Davante Adams erupted without Puka Nacua and Aaron Donald made his long-awaited return as the Rams rolled past the New York Giants, 28-6, in front of 73,773 at SoFi Stadium.
This was the response Sean McVay needed after a 27-7 season-opening loss raised uncomfortable questions about an offense that looked stale and a defense that failed to record a sack on 34 pass attempts.
Not everything was firing on all cylinders on Monday, but at least the Rams looked awake, alert, and more energetic.
Here are three takeaways from their first victory of the season.
Four touchdowns from Stafford. More than 400 yards of offense. More than 150 rushing yards between Kyren Williams and Blake Corum.
That’s more like the Rams offense we expected to see this season.
But when they look back at the film on Tuesday, everything won’t be as flattering as it seems.
The Rams offense did all of that without All-Pro wide receiver Puka Nacua, who missed the game with a hip injury, but there were still too many self-inflicted wounds for a team with legitimate Super Bowl expectations.
Williams coughed up the football inside his own 10-yard line, essentially gift-wrapping points for the Giants. Terrance Ferguson and other Rams receivers dropped passes that hit them in the hands. The running game took too long to get moving and the offense occasionally lacked the crispness that has become McVay’s calling card.
Against an injured Giants team, those mistakes were inconveniences.
Against Denver, Philadelphia, or another NFC heavyweight in January, they can end a season.
Still, Stafford’s four-touchdown performance was a massive step forward after his miserable night in Melbourne. The 38-year-old also passed Jim Everett for second place on the Rams’ career touchdown-pass list.
With Nacua unavailable, Adams didn’t simply become Stafford’s favorite target. He became the entire offensive aerial attack.
Adams caught eight passes for 195 yards and two touchdowns, producing the kind of vintage performance that reminded everyone why the Rams brought him to Los Angeles in the first place.
After being nearly invisible in Australia, Adams was everywhere Monday.
His first touchdown was particularly impressive, with Adams climbing the ladder for the football before finishing the play in the end zone. It also marked his first touchdown with the Rams in which he didn’t actually catch the ball in the end zone.
More importantly, Adams proved the Rams don’t have to panic whenever Nacua isn’t available.
Aaron Donald didn’t need to record three sacks or throw an offensive lineman into Jaxson Dart to make his presence felt.
The building erupted when No. 99 ran out of the tunnel during pregame introductions, two years after walking away from football. Then Donald reminded everyone why that reception was so loud.
One of his biggest plays won’t dominate the highlight shows. Donald stuffed Najee Harris on third-and-2, helping force the Giants to settle for a field goal.
That is what Donald has always done. He wrecks plans.
More importantly, his presence appeared to change the Rams around him.
After producing zero sacks in Australia, Los Angeles recorded two Monday, including the first career sack for undrafted rookie Wes Bailey. Donald finished with three tackles while playing more than 30 snaps in his return.
The pressure up front also made life easier for a revamped secondary, where All-Pro cornerback Trent McDuffie recorded his first interception as a Ram.
Donald isn’t going to fix everything by himself.
But Monday night offered the first glimpse of what this defense can look like when No. 99 is standing in the middle of it.
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