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Players to watch in Monday's primetime matchup

PLAYERS-TO-WATCH-WEEK-2

The Giants will once again be in the national spotlight as they head to Los Angeles for a Week 2 matchup against the Rams on Monday Night Football.

It marks the second consecutive week the Giants will play in primetime, as they defeated the Cowboys 28-20 at MetLife Stadium on Sunday Night Football in the season opener.

The Rams also appeared on national television in Week 1 as they fell to the 49ers 27-7 in Australia last Thursday night.

The Giants will now look to start the season 2-0 for just the second time in the last 10 years.

Here are players to watch in the Week 2 matchup.

QB Jaxson Dart

Going into a pivotal Year 2 in the NFL, Jaxson Dart got his 2026 campaign off to a dominant start. The 23-year-old quarterback set new career highs with a 79.3 completion percentage and a 134.2 passer rating as he threw for 230 yards and three touchdowns, the latter of which matched his previous high mark. Dart also ran the ball eight times for 59 yards (7.4 avg.) prior to his three kneel-downs in the victory formation. He became the first Giants player to have at least 200 passing yards, three passing touchdowns and 50 rushing yards in a game since Phil Sims did it against the Jets in 1988.

This was the first game of Dart's young career in which he threw for three touchdowns without an interception. In fact, he became the youngest quarterback to ever do this in a Week 1 primetime game, and the first under the age of 25 to do it since Patrick Mahomes in 2020. Additionally, Dart became the first quarterback in NFL history to throw for three or more touchdowns, run for 50 or more yards, and have a passer rating of at least 130.0 in the season opener.

According to Next Gen Stats, Dart completed 17 of 19 pass attempts for 200 yards and two touchdowns when the Cowboys brought four or fewer pass rushers, and was pressured just two times on those dropbacks. During their Week 1 matchup against the 49ers, the Rams brought four or fewer pass rushers on 30 of Brock Purdy's 34 dropbacks, although they were able to total eight pressures on such plays (26.7 percent pressure rate).

View photos of the Giants on the practice field as they prepare for Monday Night Football against the Rams.

RB Cam Skattebo

While most of the attention leading into Sunday night was about Malik Nabers' potential return to the field for the first time since his injury, it also served as Cam Skattebo's first game back. The young running back suffered a serious ankle injury in Week 8 that sidelined him for the remainder of the season. Nonetheless, the second-year running back averaged 4.5 yards per carry as he went for 81 yards on 18 carries and scored the team's first touchdown of the season.

Skattebo's Week 1 touchdown gave him eight scores over his first nine NFL games. This tied him with Del Shofner and Bob Schnelker for the third-most scrimmage touchdowns scored through nine games in Giants history. The only players that totaled more were Bill Paschal (12) and Ron Johnson (nine).

The Rams struggled to slow down the 49ers' run game in Week 1. Christian McCaffrey led the way with 68 yards on just 10 carries (6.8 avg.), but he wasn't the only player to find success on the ground against Los Angeles. Rookie Kaelon Black ran the ball 14 times for 65 yards (4.6 avg.), while Brock Purdy and Deebo Samuel combined for another 41 yards on six carries. As a team, San Francisco totaled 174 yards on 30 attempts (5.8 avg.).

According to Next Gen Stats, Skattebo generated 72 yards after contact in Week 1, the second-most of his career. The Rams allowed 121 rushing yards after contact against the 49ers in the season opener, tied for the fourth-most they have allowed since 2024.

WR Malik Nabers

Speaking of Nabers, the third-year wide receiver practiced in full all week leading into Sunday night. However, it took him going through his pregame warmup routine before he made the decision to officially suit up for the matchup against the Cowboys. Nabers ended up playing 52 percent of the team's offensive snaps (36 snaps) and finished with a team-high nine targets, of which he caught six for 69 yards.

More important than anything else, Nabers emerged from the primetime matchup healthy.

"I think good," coach John Harbaugh told the media Monday on how Nabers looked. "I haven't really asked him directly, but the trainers said he looked good. He was out here today. He looked good. So, it looked like it was an A, I would say, but you should ask him. Seemed good, though."

The Rams transformed their cornerback room in the offseason when they traded for Trent McDuffie and signed Jaylen Watson in free agency, both of whom were formerly with the Chiefs. McDuffie, a two-time All-Pro selection, played just 25.7 percent of his coverage snaps in man coverage against the 49ers, the fourth-lowest rate of his NFL career. Since entering the league in 2022, McDuffie played man on 43.5 percent of his coverage snaps. He finished his Rams debut last week with two receptions for 22 yards allowed on four targets, with two passes defensed.

LB Tremaine Edmunds

While the Rams underwent a major overhaul of their cornerback group, the Giants did the same at linebacker. Sunday's game against the Cowboys was the first time that Tremaine Edmunds and Arvell Reese took the field together outside of practice, and it didn't take long for the two of them to make their presence felt. Both linebackers played 100 percent of the team's defensive snaps, with Edmunds finishing with a team-high eight total tackles (seven solo). Additionally, Edmunds rushed the quarterback just three times Sunday night and picked up a pressure on one of them.

Both Edmunds and Reese played a role in the run defense doing a good job of limiting the Cowboys. Running back Javonte Williams totaled just 41 yards on 12 carries, good for an average of 3.4 yards per carry. As a team, the Cowboys ran for 69 yards on 18 carries (3.8 avg.). The two linebackers combined for five run tackles.

Despite the Rams struggling to do much offensively in Week 1, the run game still performed well. Blake Corum led the way with 10 carries for 54 yards (5.4 avg.), while Kyren Williams was not far behind him with 11 rush attempts for 41 yards (3.7 avg.) and LA's lone touchdown. Williams also caught all three of his targets for an additional 24 yards. The Rams finished inside the top seven in the NFL last season in both total rushing yards and yards per attempt.

The secondary

The Giants' secondary faced a tough challenge in the season opener as they were tasked with slowing down Dak Prescott, CeeDee Lamb, George Pickens and the rest of the high-powered Cowboys' passing game. Prescott, who threw for 4,552 yards last season, was held to just 175 yards and a 84.8 passer rating, while the two star wideouts combined for just eight receptions, 72 yards and one touchdown.

Between all of the Giants' cornerbacks, the group allowed 103 receiving yards on 19 targets in coverage last week, good for an average of 5.4 yards per target. This was the lowest mark for the team's cornerbacks since Week 10 of 2024, according to NGS. Deonte Banks, Greg Newsome II and Dru Phillips each allowed less than one yard per coverage snap against the Cowboys. Add in Jevón Holland's interception, which led to a big touchdown for the Giants right before halftime, the defense combined to allow only three completions on 10 downfield pass attempts (10+ air yards), resulting in 37 yards and the interception. This was the lowest downfield yards the Giants had allowed in a game since Week 12 of the 2023 season.

The whole secondary made the list this week because the Giants are going to need the whole group to step up on Monday night. While Prescott finished third in the NFL in passing yards, Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford was No. 1 with 4,707 yards and 46 touchdowns to go with just eight interceptions, which led to him being named league MVP. Stafford's two primary targets, similar to the Cowboys, are his top two wide receivers in Puka Nacua and Davante Adams. The former led the NFL with 129 receptions last season, which he took for 1,715 yards and 10 touchdowns, while the latter caught the most touchdown passes last year with 14. Stafford also gets his tight ends involved in the passing game, as Colby Parkinson caught eight touchdowns last year, while Tyler Higbee, Davis Allen and Terrance Ferguson caught three apiece.

View rare photos of the history between the New York Giants and Los Angeles Rams.

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