The New York Giants did whatever they wanted to the St. Louis Rams defense in a 37-27 win on Sunday at the Edward Jones Dome. Our takeaways:
- More magic from Odell Beckham Jr. The Giants' rookie phenom torched an overmatched St. Louis secondary on his way to eight catches for 148 yards and two touchdowns. Beckham now has 79 receptions for 1,120 yards and 11 touchdowns -- amazing production given he missed the first four weeks with a hamstring injury. Beckham is an absolute lock for Offensive Rookie of the Year and may even snag a few MVP votes. People need to understand how rare it is for a rookie wide receiver to hit the ground running as a superstar. Beckham pulled a Moss.
- The Rams' back-to-back shutouts feels like forever ago now. The Giants torched the Rams in their own building, piling up 514 yards on Gregg Williams' defense. The Rams have plenty of talent on their roster, but consider Sunday a reminder they shouldn't be gloating about their organizational success just yet.
- Eli Manning is quietly on the way to perhaps the best statistical season of his career. The Giants quarterback was locked in on Sunday, finishing 25 of 32 for 391 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions. Manning, 33, already has two Super Bowl MVP awards on his resume. A couple more seasons like this and he's a veritable lock for Canton. Beckham could be the guy who puts Eli over the top.
- This game featured a nasty brawl in the second quarter that included thrown punches, multiple personal fouls and four ejections. It started late in the first half, when linebacker Alec Ogletree hit Beckham late out of bounds. This prompted Beckham -- down on the turf -- to execute an impressive leg sweep on Ogletree. The Giants sideline was soon flooded with players from both teams. In the third quarter, Rams safety Ray McDonald Jr. tried to take Beckham's head off on a hit and ended up knocking teammate E.J. Gaines out of the game. Not pretty.
- For the second straight year, the Giants are finishing strong after falling out of contention. They've now won three straight, increasing the probability that Tom Coughlin will return for an 12th season in 2015.
The "Around The NFL Podcast" is available for download on iTunes! Click here to listen and subscribe.
