Why the Rams’ Week 2 Matchup Against Giants Is Already a Must-Win Game

Coming into the season, the Los Angeles Rams were Super Bowl favorites. As they enter Week 2 with a matchup against the New York Giants on Monday Night Football, they are staring 0-2 in the face. The Rams will be without their star defender in Myles Garrett and wide receiver Puka Nacua is trending toward not playing.

It may only be Week 2, but it’s hard not to say this is a must-win game. While that may seem hyperbolic, the Rams enter Week 2 with their backs up against the wall. At the end of the day, no 0-2 team has reached the Super Bowl since 2016 and only 14.3 percent of 0-2 teams make the playoffs.

Rams Can’t Afford to Lose Ground in the NFC West

That’s especially the case as you start to look ahead. Looking ahead can be a dangerous game in the NFL, but it’s worth it here to add context of the Rams’ situation. With the Denver Broncos, Philadelphia Eagles, and Buffalo Bills on deck, the Rams could be looking at 1-4 by the time Myles Garrett returns from injury.

Looking at the rest of the NFC West, things are much more favorable:

SEA: @ WAS, vs. LAC, vs. SF
SF: vs. ARI, vs. DEN, @ SEA

Can the Rams really afford to drop two games in the division at this point. That also doesn’t account for the fact that the Rams’ Week 1 loss came against a division opponent. The Rams are coming off of a 27-7 loss to the San Francisco 49ers in Week 1. According to RotoWire, teams that lose by 14 points or more recover to make the playoffs just 18.8 percent of the time.

Meanwhile, the Giants are coming off of a statement win against the Dallas Cowboys and look much better than some thought they would coming into the season. Getting a win on Monday Night Football won’t be easy, but it is a necessity.

Rams Can’t Overlook the Importance of Conference Record

Additionally, the game against the Giants on Monday night is another conference game, which comes into play for playoff tiebreakers. A loss to the Denver Broncos and Buffalo Bills in the next four weeks is much different than a loss to the New York Giants and Philadelphia Eagles.

When the Rams made the playoffs in 2024 they finished as the four seed behind the Tampa Bay Buccaneers despite finishing with the same record. The difference between the third and fourth seeds was the Rams going 6-6 in conference while the Buccaneers went 8-4.

Had the Buccaneers beaten the Minnesota Vikings in the wild card round and faced the Eagles, it’s possible the Rams could have hosted the NFC Championship game. The Buccaneers had beaten the Eagles earlier in the season, and the Rams may have been more focused to get a win against the Detroit Lions in the divisional round after losing to them the year prior.

Rams Want a Different Path Through the NFC Playoffs

At the end of the day, it’s simply a hypothetical scenario, but seeding matters in the playoffs. It’s one reason why the Rams went out to get Myles Garrett and Trent McDuffie. As much as those players were acquired to help put the Rams over the top, they were also acquired to help put them in a better position to do so.

For the Rams to make the Super Bowl last year, they would have had to win three consecutive road playoff games. There’s a reason that hasn’t been done very often in the history of the NFL. It is extremely difficult. As much as the Rams wanted to win a Super Bowl, they also understood that earning a top-two seed was the best path to get there.

The Rams aren’t going to win the Super Bowl in Week 2, but they will dig themselves into a very difficult hole with a loss. This is a Rams team that has proven it can bounce back from 1-4 and 3-6, but that’s not a position they should want to be in.

It may seem hyperbolic to call a Week 2 game against the New York Giants a must-win, but given the Rams’ upcoming schedule, the difficulty of the NFC West, and the importance of conference records in playoff seeding, that’s exactly what Monday night feels like.

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