Matthew Stafford saw a 'dangerous' Giants team
Matthew Stafford typically pulls for the Giants because his brother-in-law is Chad Hall, their wide receivers coach.
That won't be the case this week, of course, as the Giants look to start 2-0 on Monday night in Los Angeles. But the Rams quarterback and defending NFL MVP watched their season-opening win over the Cowboys with a close eye. He came away impressed.
"I saw a young team with a bunch of talent," Stafford said on his weekly SiriusXM show “Let’s Go” with co-host Jim Gray. "When you look at the defensive side of the ball, a bunch of pass rushers, I thought they did a really nice job in the pass game against the Dallas Cowboys who have as much talent as anybody in the pass game. I think Dak [Prescott] has played at a high level for a long time now and with CeeDee [Lamb] and [George Pickens] and all those guys, they're really talented on the outside. So for them to get that win, 28-20, was a big start for their season."
Stafford also watched Jaxson Dart become the first quarterback in NFL history to open a season with at least three passing touchdowns, 50 rushing yards, and a passer rating of 130.
"Obviously, the young quarterback, Jaxson Dart, I thought played really well, played within himself, made some plays with his feet," Stafford said. "They're a dangerous team. I think every team in the NFL, it's what people out there forget, year in and year out going through training camps and watching preseason, think they can pick who's going to win every game. And that's why we play them. You put the ball down, you go play the games. And I thought the Giants did a heck of a job the other night. I thought it was cool on the weekend of September 11th, 25 years later, for the Giants and New York City to get a win, felt right and felt great to have the NFL have something like that happen and those guys play well."
The Giants will travel Saturday to Los Angeles, one day earlier than a typical road trip for a Monday night game. The Rams know all about time change.
They lost to the 49ers in the NFL's first game played in Australia. The two teams approached it differently, with the Rams traveling the day before and the 49ers making a week out of it.
"Well, I think it's hard to know," Stafford said of the travel affect. "I do know that for us, we felt good going into the game. And we as players and coaches and everybody involved, thoroughly believed that, hey, if we go out there and play the game the way we're supposed to play it and execute a few plays here or there, this game looks a lot different or has the opportunity to be a lot different. Hindsight, I'm sure people will sit there and go, 'Well, of course the 49ers did it right because they won the game and won the game handily.' But football is about what's played in between the lines and travel is part of it. There's no question. But in my mind, we had plenty of opportunities to go out there and make this game a better game for us. And I don't know how other teams will do it and how other teams will handle it. I fully believed in our plan and I know the 49ers probably believed in their plan and it was, hey, who's going to go out there and execute in those 60 minutes in that three-and-a-half-hour window and play better?"
Currently on Giants.com
Around the NFL
