Rams vs. Giants preview: Aaron Donald makes return for Los Angeles on 'MNF'

Plus, how to watch the game and a prediction for the Monday night matchup Sep 21, 2026 at 6:00 pm ET • 7 min read In the final game of Week 2, the Los Angeles Rams host the New York Giants on "Monday Night Football."The Rams were embarrassed in their season opener by the division rival San Francisco 49ers, falling 27-7 in Australia. The Rams, who led the NFL in both yards and points last season, managed just 290 yards of total offense against San Francisco and turned the ball over twice. Meanwhile, the defense allowed 5.9 yards per play and was repeatedly gashed on the ground. Worse yet, the Rams saw Myles Garrett head to injured reserve after he ended up having knee surgery. L.A. gets Aaron Donald back on Monday night, but the so-called super team looks like anything but so far. And it may not have Puka Nacua on Monday night, either.The Giants, meanwhile, got off to just about as good a start to the John Harbaugh era as one could imagine. New York did whatever it wanted offensively against the division rival Dallas Cowboys in Week 1, controlling both the ball and the clock all evening as it ground Dallas into dust. Jaxson Dart had arguably the single-best game of his career, Cam Skattebo rumbled through the defense all night, Malik Nabers made it through his return game unscathed and emerged with six receptions and Isaiah Likely lit up the second level of the Dallas defense for a pair of touchdowns.Will the Rams bounce back, or will the Giants move to 2-0? We'll find out soon enough. Before we break down some key matchups on each side of the ball, here's a look at how you can watch the game. Where to watch Rams vs. Giants liveDate: Monday, Sept. 21 | Time: 8:15 p.m. ETLocation: SoFi Stadium (Inglewood, California)TV: ESPN/ABC | Streaming: Fubo (try for free)Follow: CBS Sports AppOdds: Rams -6.5, O/U 47.5 via DraftKings SportsbookWhen the Giants have the ballThe Giants did whatever they wanted against the Cowboys on "Sunday Night Football" last weekend. New York ran the ball 37 times for 165 yards and a touchdown. Jaxson Dart completed 23 of 29 passes for 230 yards and three scores. The Giants controlled the ball for 36 minutes and 40 seconds of the 60-minute game. They had three second-half drives; they scored a touchdown on each of the first two and ran the clock out on the third. All three drives lasted 12-plus plays. It was surgical stuff.New York's offensive line controlled that game, leaning on the Dallas defensive front throughout the night. A similar dynamic developed in Australia, where the 49ers controlled the game up front against the Rams. New York finished second in the NFL with a 60.3% offensive success rate during Week 1, per Tru Media. Only the 49ers finished ahead of the Giants, with a 62.5% success rate. San Francisco averaged 2.77 yards before contact per rush against L.A., a figure that would have easily led the NFL last season. New York was at 2.16 per rush against Dallas.Things will likely be a bit different here. The Rams won't have Myles Garrett for this game, but they will have Aaron Donald, who is reportedly expected to play around 30 snaps. It's probably unfair to expect Donald to be at full strength, and it's definitely unfair to expect him to single-handedly fix what ailed the Rams' defense in Week 1. He is a superstar, though, and he wouldn't be coming back in the first place if he didn't feel like he could still be a dominant player. I expect him to make a difference on the defensive interior, challenging the trio of Francis Mauigoa (who was excellent in his NFL debut), John Michael Schmitz and Jon Runyan Jr. throughout. Poona Ford and Kobie Turner are also good run players, and they should theoretically have more success against the Giants' rushing attack than did the Cowboys, who were an utter mess of miscommunication, missed assignments and simply getting blown off the ball. That could still happen, obviously, but I don't expect as many mental miscues from the Rams, who aren't breaking in a first-time defensive coordinator on the road in his first NFL game.The second level of the L.A. defense is also far better than the second level of the Dallas defense. The Rams' cornerback trio of Trent McDuffie, Jaylen Watson and Quentin Lake did not have the best debut, but it is far more talented than the overmatched group the Cowboys threw out there against the Giants last week. They will still have to deal with the problems caused by Malik Nabers, though, and Nabers should ramp up his snap count in his second game back from a torn ACL. The Giants also got good contributions from Darnell Mooney and Malachi Fields last week.The biggest issue the Giants may pose for the Rams is actually over the middle of the field, where Isaiah Likely will work against linebackers, whose strength is not coverage, and a depleted safety room. Kamren Kinchens is out with a hamstring injury, and Kamren Curl was limited throughout the week with an ankle issue, though he has no game status. If Likely can get free on the second level, that will give Jaxson Dart easy opportunities for completions to keep the chains moving. When the Rams have the ballL.A.'s offense in Week 1 looked nothing like the unit that led the NFL in yards and points last season. The Rams ran the ball with some success early on but didn't do much else. They finished the game with just 290 total yards and 5.2 yards per play, compared with their averages of 372.7 per game and 6.2 per play a year ago. Their 49.1% success rate, via Tru Media, was only slightly above average for the week, when last year it sat at a league-best 53.1%. New York's defense actually allowed the Cowboys to move the ball fairly well last week, yielding a 55.8% offensive success rate that ranked fifth-best in the NFL. Dallas averaged 1.83 EPA per drive, second in the NFL in Week 1 behind only the Giants, at a preposterous 2.82 per drive. For context, consider that the Rams led the NFL at 0.79 EPA per drive last season. The Cowboys just didn't have the ball enough for it to matter. Dallas only had six true possessions in the game and touched the ball just twice in the second half.Matthew Stafford and Co. should have more success here... assuming Puka Nacua can suit up despite his hip injury, which Sean McVay said is a different issue than the psoas muscle injury he dealt with toward the end of the preseason. The Giants are banged up on the back end after putting Paulson Adebo on injured reserve, and Deonte Banks is listed as questionable with a calf injury after a limited practice Thursday and no participation Friday or Saturday. If the Rams can give Matthew Stafford time, there should be openings for Nacua, as well as the likes of Davante Adams and all of the tight ends on the second level. If Nacua sits, however, things could be more difficult. Jordan Whittington is also doubtful for the game, and if he's also out, the Rams would be left with just Tutu Atwell, Konata Mumpfield and sixth-round rookie CJ Daniels (who was inactive for Week 1) behind Adams. They would surely lean on more and more multi-tight end sets, putting pressure on Terrence Ferguson, Tyler Higbee, Colby Parkinson, Davis Allen (questionable) and possibly second-round rookie Max Klare to produce through the air. Really, though, they might just lean more into the run game, hoping to wear the Giants down up front and avoid their pass rush, which had a strong day pressuring Dak Prescott last week.The Cowboys barely tried to run the ball against the Giants in Week 1, and they didn't have much success when they did, as Javonte Williams finished with just 30 yards on 12 carries. L.A. ran the ball more successfully in its opener as Kyren Williams and Blake Corum combined for 95 yards on 21 totes, with Corum in particular looking explosive when he got into open space against San Francisco's defense. It'll be interesting to see which side wins the battle up front in the run game after the Giants weren't really tested in that way in their opener.PredictionTwo of the biggest surprises of Week 1 were the Rams laying a total egg against the 49ers in Australia and the Giants coming out and clobbering the Cowboys for four quarters. I'm not necessarily expecting either of those things to continue through the rest of the season. It's easy to overreact to what we saw in debut games and take the Giants here because they were so impressive against Dallas and the Rams were so inept against San Francisco. But I'm going to lean on the preseason priors for a little while longer and take L.A. to win. If Puka Nacua suits up, the Rams win comfortably; if not, they win close. Pick (if Nacua plays): Rams 27, Giants 17. Pick (if Nacua sits): Rams 17, Giants 16