Monday Night Football Prop Bets: Giants at Rams

NFL Player Props for Week 2

Monday Night Football closes out Week 2 with two teams showing up in opposite positions. The New York Giants arrive at SoFi Stadium at 1-0 off one of the most encouraging debuts in franchise memory, while the Los Angeles Rams stumble in at 0-1 after the worst opening performance of Matthew Stafford’s six-year run with the team.

Los Angeles Rams opened as 7-point favorites before dropping to -6.5 with the total sitting at 47.5, a line move tied directly to uncertainty around Puka Nacua’s health.

Quick Picks 

• Jaxon Dart Over 213.5 Passing Yards – Dart was very impressive last week. I wasn’t targeting him in Fantasy this year, as everything told me he would regress; it’s early, but so far I was wrong. Dart looked calm and very accurate last week, playing in the first Sunday Night Game of the season versus a division rival. The line tonight, 213 passing yards, seems low; this game feels like a high-scoring shootout. I think he easily hits this. 
• Matthew Stafford Over 240.5 Passing Yards – With a lot of time to reflect on their messy International trip in week one, I think the Rams come out and light up the scoreboard in a high-scoring game. 240 is not a high number to hit; I think both teams will take to the air tonight.
• Puka Nacua Over 78.5 Receiving Yards – If he plays, he’s going to produce. I feel this line is low due to his nagging injury, and one we’ll laugh at him for hitting by halftime. 
• Malik Nabers Over 65.5 Receiving Yards – Back-to-back prime time games and another opportunity to prove Nabers is a growing star in the league. Nabers looked fully healthy in his return from a torn ACL, and as the clear top receiving option once Dart starts spreading the ball around more evenly, this number looks beatable. 
• Cam Skattebo Over 40 Yards Rushing (Alt line) – I’m trying to avoid all RBs in this game, so I’m taking the Alt line with Skattebo. 
• Isaiah Likely Over 45.5 Receiving Yards – Likely cam out of nowhere for eight catches and two scores in his Giants debut, running the bulk of his routes lined up like a receiver rather than in-line. That usage pattern is exactly the kind of role that tends to repeat, making him a strong value option again this week.

Aaron Donald Returns as Stafford Looks to Rebound

There’s a genuine subplot buried in this game beyond the obvious Stafford bounce-back storyline. Aaron Donald is expected to make his season debut Monday night, three weeks after coming out of retirement, giving the Rams’ interior a boost the same week they lose Myles Garrett to a knee surgery that will keep him out into October. Whether that trade-off works in Los Angeles’s favor says a lot about how deep this roster actually is.

The Last Meeting

These two teams haven’t played since December 31, 2023, when the Rams escaped MetLife Stadium with a 26-25 win in a Week 17 game that meant little for Los Angeles and even less for a Giants team stuck in a lost season. Los Angeles has won each of the last four meetings in this series, and New York’s most recent win over the Rams dates back to 2016, a 17-10 result. Interestingly, John Harbaugh actually holds a 2-2 record against Sean McVay dating back to matchups from his time in Baltimore, so this isn’t completely unfamiliar territory for New York’s new head coach, even if it’s his first crack at McVay as a divisional outsider in the NFC.

What to Know

Stafford’s Week 1 line was about as rough as it gets for a reigning MVP. He completed 15 of 25 passes for just 155 yards with an interception and no touchdowns in the 27-7 loss to San Francisco, and the seven points Los Angeles managed were the fewest in any game Stafford has started as a Ram. Davante Adams was nearly invisible, finishing with 26 receiving yards, and while Nacua at least flashed with a 41-yard catch, he was otherwise quiet in a game where nobody else on the roster topped 30 yards. Now Nacua himself is banged up, officially questionable with a hip issue that Sean McVay has also tied to some groin soreness, and reports out of Los Angeles this week describe his practice absences as trending in the wrong direction heading into Monday. If he can’t go, Adams inherits a much heavier workload against a Giants secondary that’s suddenly thin.

That secondary took its own hit this week. New York placed cornerback Paulson Adebo on injured reserve Friday with a knee injury suffered against Dallas, and Deonte Banks is questionable with a calf issue that has him officially day-to-day. That leaves rookie Colton Hood, recent practice-squad signing Nikko Reed, and Dru Phillips to soak up outside reps against a Rams passing game that, health permitting, still has real firepower.

On the other side, New York has plenty to feel good about after a 28-20 win over Dallas that looked nothing like the version of this franchise fans have watched the last two seasons. Jaxson Dart set an NFL record for a season opener by throwing three touchdowns, rushing for over 50 yards, and posting a passer rating above 130 in the same game, finishing 23 of 29 for 230 yards. New tight end Isaiah Likely was the headline act, catching all eight of his targets for 78 yards and two scores, while Malik Nabers looked fully healthy in his return from a torn ACL and Cam Skattebo led the team with 81 rushing yards. Defensively, John Harbaugh’s group held Dallas to just 244 total yards behind an edge duo of Brian Burns and Abdul Carter and a linebacker pairing of Tremaine Edmunds and Arvell Reese, giving this defense actual teeth heading into a tougher test against a Rams offense trying to find itself again.

Keys to the Game

Rams: Keys to Victory

Los Angeles needs its stars to actually look like stars again, and that starts with getting Stafford comfortable early against a Giants defense that blitzes at a top-eight rate. If Nacua can’t go or is limited, Davante Adams has to be the answer near the goal line, an area where the Rams generated almost nothing in Week 1. Aaron Donald’s expected return gives this defensive front a boost right as it loses Garrett, and how quickly Donald can affect the game after two and a half years away will say a lot about whether Los Angeles can slow down a Dart-led offense that just torched a divisional opponent. With McDuffie and Jaylen Watson holding up in coverage, the bigger question for the Rams defense is whether the interior can generate enough pressure on Dart to keep him from extending plays with his legs, since a clean pocket is exactly what turned into a career night for him against Dallas.

Giants: Keys to Victory

New York’s Week 1 blueprint travels well against this opponent. Sustaining long, methodical drives limited Dallas’s possessions and wore down its defense, and doing the same against a Rams team still finding its footing would be just as effective, maybe more so given how far L.A.’s offense has to climb back after its own Week 1 disaster. Dart’s legs matter here too, since a Rams defense missing Garrett may be more grindable on the ground than most people expect. Likely, Nabers need to keep producing against a Rams secondary that, Garrett or not, still has real cover talent in McDuffie and Watson, but the more interesting matchup might be New York’s own patchwork secondary trying to survive without Adebo against a Rams passing game that could easily bounce back in a big way. If the Giants can control tempo the way they did against Dallas and force Los Angeles into a handful of empty-possession frustration, an upset on the road in Week 2 becomes very real.

My Pick

Los Angeles has too much talent to stay this flat two weeks in a row, and a return home after the long trip to Australia should help. But the Giants proved in Week 1 that this isn’t a team that beats itself, and a shorthanded Rams pass rush without Garrett gives Dart room to operate behind a line that graded well in pass protection. I’ll take the Rams to bounce back, but not cover big; Rams 27-23.

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