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Storylines to follow as Giants head to LA

DART-STAFFORD-STORYLINES

The New York Giants got their 2026 campaign off to an encouraging start.

Under the lights of primetime, John Harbaugh's squad began the season with a 28-20 divisional victory over the Dallas Cowboys. It was a well-balanced performance from the Giants as all three phases stepped up when they were needed.

But Week 1 is in the rearview mirror. The attention now turns to this week's opponent.

The Los Angeles Rams took part in the NFL's first ever regular-season game in Australia last week, but wound up falling to the San Francisco 49ers, 27-7.

Here are five storylines to follow in this week's matchup on Monday Night Football.

Turning the focus towards LA

The Giants set the tone early in their Week 1 victory over the Cowboys. The defense forced a quick three-and-out on the Cowboys' opening drive, which was followed by the offense putting together a 10-play, 83-yard drive that took over six minutes off the clock and resulted in the first touchdown of the season. It was the first of four drives by the Giants that reached double-digit plays, as all three possessions in the second half were 12 or more plays.

As encouraging as the performance on Sunday night was, it was far from perfect. The Giants fumbled the ball four times against the Cowboys, only one of which resulted in a turnover, and totaled 114 yards on 10 penalties. The penalty yardage was the most of any team in Week 1. Going up against a Rams team that made it all the way to the NFC Championship last season, Harbaugh acknowledged that they will need to clean some things up heading into Week 2.

"Everything you do before is a foundation for what you're going to do next," Harbaugh told the media Monday. "So, we're building on our foundations every single day, what's under us and what we have banked, so to speak. Try to maintain an understanding of that but we also understand that how you play this week is not going to be good enough to win next week.

"How we played this last night will not win the game next Monday night. It won't be good enough. So, we've got to improve. We've got to keep improving and we've got to put everything we've got into this week to improve the most that we possibly can if we're going to have the best opportunity to win this game. So, we've got a lot to do."

Donald, Rams defense next test for Dart

Jaxson Dart had a promising start to his second NFL season. The 23-year-old quarterback completed 23 of 29 passes (79.3 percent) for 230 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions. This earned him a passer rating of 134.2, by far the highest mark of his 13 NFL starts. Dart also continued to be a threat on the ground, adding 59 yards on eight carries (7.4 avg.) prior to his final three attempts in victory formation. Not only was this perhaps the best overall performance of his young professional career, but he also became the first quarterback in NFL history with three or more passing touchdowns, 50 or more rushing yards and a passer rating of 130.0 or higher in the season opener.

Dart and the rest of the offense face a tough test this week as they fly across the country for a primetime matchup against the Rams. The Los Angeles defense struggled in Week 1, allowing the 49ers to total 379 yards and three touchdowns, all of which came from the arm of Brock Purdy. The veteran QB finished with 205 yards and a 73.5 completion percentage in the season opener in Australia, earning a passer rating of 105.6, with an additional 29 yards on five carries (5.8 avg.).

The Rams defense will look a little different on Monday than it did in Week 1. For starters, reigning Defensive Player of the Year Myles Garrett will not be out there after being placed on injured reserve due to a knee injury. However, the unit might be getting some reinforcements. Three-time Defensive Player of the Year and eight-time first-team All-Pro Aaron Donald, who officially came out of retirement last month, is gearing up for his return to the field and might be out there for the Week 2 matchup.

"Expect him to play like Aaron Donald, which is a game-wrecking type player inside," Harbaugh said. "Penetrating, active movement player who can wreck the game, really any particular play in a lot of different ways, run and pass. So, we're expecting him to play. We're planning for him to be out there."

"For the longest time that I can remember, he's one of the most dominant players that I've watched," Dart added. "So, getting the chance to go out there and compete against him, it's going to be really cool just to be on the same field as him. He's a great player, and I've heard that he's kept himself in really good shape. So, it's going to be a great competition."

Rams are 'a very well-coached football team'

The Rams scored only seven points during their trip to Australia, due in part to converting on only two of nine third downs. But make no mistake, this is still one of the most talented offenses in the NFL, led by reigning league MVP Matthew Stafford. The veteran quarterback led the league with 4,707 yards and 46 touchdowns through the air last season as he finished the season with a career-high 109.2 passer rating. Coming off a game in which he was held to just 155 passing yards and no touchdowns, Stafford presents the Giants defense with a daunting challenge.

"This is a very well-coached football team," Harbaugh said of the Rams. "Great football coach, Sean McVay. They play fundamental football. They're very disciplined. That's really their calling card. The schemes are excellent, but more so it's the fundamental nature of the way they play that makes them who they are as a football team. And that's our challenge. And then Matthew Stafford epitomizes that at the position. He's accurate. He's on time. He gets the ball where it's supposed to go. He doesn't make too many mistakes. So, that's a big challenge for us."

Los Angeles made a big splash last offseason when they brought in wide receiver Davante Adams. The veteran made his presence felt early and often last year. Almost every time the Rams got into the red zone, Stafford would look towards his big, reliable target, which led to Adams catching a league-high 14 touchdown passes.

While Adams led the Rams in receiving touchdowns last season, there is no doubt that the focal point of passing game is fellow wideout Puka Nacua. In his third NFL season last year, Nacua led the NFL with 129 receptions, which he took for 1,715 yards and 10 touchdowns. Even during a down game for the offense last week, Nacua still finished the game with five receptions for 74 yards. Not only does the young receiver make an impact as a pass-catcher, but he is also one of the best blocking wide receivers in the NFL, something that caught the eye of John Harbaugh.

"You have to respect him as a football player," the head coach said of Nacua. "I mean, he does, he is, his picture is next to "football player" in the dictionary, for sure, because he does it all. He'd probably run down a kickoff and tackle if they'd let him. He's that kind of a guy. And he makes contested catches. He blocks the lead play. He's in there on play actions. But not just him, all the guys do that, all their guys do all the jobs, the way they're built."

Nabers 'looked good' & other injury updates

The big storyline heading into Week 1 was the health of wide receiver Malik Nabers. The star wideout practiced in full all week but was listed as questionable on the final injury report. Nabers went through his pregame warmup on Sunday and declared himself ready to go, which led to him catching six passes for 69 yards on a team-high nine targets. More important than his stats was the fact that Nabers, who was on the field for 52 percent of the team's offensive snaps (36 snaps), came out of the game healthy.

"I think good," Harbaugh said 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."

Running back Tyrone Tracy Jr. was absent from Wednesday's practice due to an illness. The head coach said Tracy was sent home Tuesday in part to keep the rest of the locker room healthy.

"He had the flu," the head coach told reporters Wednesday. "Bad flu deal, so hopefully be back tomorrow. Expect him to be back tomorrow if it clears up a little bit. So, he came in yesterday morning not in good shape. They sent him home. You worry about this. You don't want to get everybody sick. So, that's part of it."

Schedule change

With the game on Monday, the Giants' practice schedule looks a little different this week. Wednesday's practice was more of a walk-through, or an "ACT practice" as Harbaugh calls it. Thursday's session will then be what a normal Wednesday practice is like, Friday will be like a normal Thursday, and so on and so forth.

The biggest change on the schedule is the team's travel day. The Giants typically fly out the day before an away game, but with a cross-country trip on the horizon, the team will fly out on Saturday, a day early. Harbaugh did this during his time in Baltimore and even back to his days as special teams coordinator in Philadelphia, and now he brings this philosophy to the Giants.

"You get a chance to kind of get your clock set just a little bit," the head coach said about flying to the west coast a day early. "We go ahead and get our clock set. We go out late, so the guys are up a little later on the travel night two days before. So, we try to get them ready to be at their peak at night. That's kind of the idea. Same thing we did at home, but now it's on the road, so that's really the process."

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

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