Matthew Stafford and Davante Adams shine as Rams

Aaron Donald made his triumphant return to NFL relevance on Monday night time, and notably so did the Rams.

The crew that appeared misplaced in its Down Under debut returned to type against the New York Giants, even with star receiver Puka Nacua watching in road garments because of hip pain.

Matthew Stafford was surgical with his passing, throwing 4 landing passes in a 28-6 victory. Receiver Davante Adams made a number of acrobatic catches befitting of the retina-burning yellow “Classic Sol” jerseys that turned the Rams into human highlighter pens.

“Played with a bunch of passion, energy, excited to be back home,” Stafford said, talking about the crew as a entire and particularly the protection.

“We did enough offensively, but we still left some plays out there. I wasn’t as efficient as I would have liked in certain areas. Some plays that we can make that we didn’t make. We’ll keep working on that. But it was nice to get a win as we’re finding a way to get better.”

Adams had eight catches for 195 yards and two touchdowns.

“To be here with Matthew, just to be able to bond a little bit, be a part of his deal…,” Adams said. “It’s just a blessing.”

Cornerback Trent McDuffie, acquired by the Rams in an offseason commerce with Kansas City, made the most of his home debut with an interception in the second quarter that snuffed a Giants scoring menace. He broke up a game-high 4 passes.

“He’s a stud,” Rams coach Sean McVay said. “He was active, did a great job being sticky in coverage. Even on a couple plays where the ball’s down the field, his heart rate never raises.”

SoFi Stadium, meanwhile, was a home of horrors for the Giants, who misplaced beginning quarterback Jaxson Dart 5 minutes into the sport when he was sandwiched by Rams defenders Byron Young and Josaiah Stewart and his left leg bent in an unnatural approach.

That was a devastating blow to the Giants (1-1), who watched Dart wincingly limp off the sector and into the blue medical tent. Later, it was off to the locker room for the second-year quarterback, and TV cameras confirmed him getting picked up by a cart in the bowels of the stadium, presumably for a more thorough medical examination before he was ruled out with a knee injury.

Surely, Dart might hear the roar of the Rams-heavy crowd as Adams made catch after catch — including a 31-yard landing in the first quarter and an 11-yarder in the third — and Kyren Williams pitched in with some pivotal performs of his own.

The Rams (1-1) prolonged their lead to 14-0 in the second quarter when, on third and six, Stafford linked with Williams on a 10-yard landing cross. That was set up by a 64-yard reception by Adams.

These have been the Rams that most everybody anticipated seeing, the crew with designs on ending this season with another Super Bowl at SoFi, where they raised the Lombardi Trophy in 2022.

Losing Dart was a intestine punch to the Giants, who also obtained a scare early in the second quarter when standout receiver Malik Nabers doubled over in pain after a cross breakup. It was a shoulder injury that briefly sidelined him, although he was ready to return later in the quarter.

Dart delirium was growing among Giants followers after the quarterback threw for three touchdowns and had a lofty passer score of 134.2 in a 28-20 season-opening win over Dallas. So to lose him is a spirit-withering development.

Oddsmakers had the Rams as 7½-point favorites.

Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford passes under stress in the first half against the Giants.

(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

By the second half, a somber Dart was watching from the sideline in road garments. It was a brutal weekend for a few of the NFL’s rising-star quarterbacks. Washington misplaced Jayden Daniels to an elbow injury, and Chicago’s Caleb Williams was carted off the sector in tears, although that hamstring injury apparently wound up less severe than initially feared.

Donald, who spent his total 10-year profession with the Rams, retired after the 2023 season as one of the best defensive gamers in NFL historical past. After months of hypothesis, he determined to unretire and rejoin the Rams, who had traded for star Cleveland Browns defensive lineman Myles Garrett.

Garrett underwent knee surgical procedure after the season-opening loss to San Francisco and was positioned on injured reserve, that means he’ll miss 4 video games. Donald helped choose up the slack Monday, and obtained a rollicking ovation in pregame as the last Rams defender announced.

Donald, who regularly commanded double-team blocking, made a memorable play close to the end of the second quarter with the Giants — who had feasted on a Williams fumble — threatening to rating.

On third down from the three, Donald pushed his approach into the Giants’ backfield and wrangled working back Najee Harris for a three-yard loss. The beleaguered guests opted to kick the first of their two discipline targets.

Rams defensive deal with Aaron Donald wraps up Giants working back Najee Harris for a three-yard loss close to the purpose line late in the second quarter Monday.

(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

Donald said returning to play was considerably reminiscent of the 2017 and ‘18 seasons when he held out of training camp for contract reasons, then had to quickly ramp up.

“It took a couple games to get going,” he said, his right hand wrapped for soreness that didn’t appear to concern him. “It’s a little different. I ain’t played for two years, so I’ve got to watch the film, see what I did good, see what I did wrong and clean it up.”

He said rising from the tunnel and smoke during introductions felt “surreal,” and his coach would agree.

“Did you not get chills when he was introduced?” McVay said. “You’re not freaking alive if you didn’t.”

Stafford, who accomplished 22 of 31 passes for 327 yards, handed Philip Rivers on the all-time touchdowns listing with 427. Still forward of him are Brett Favre (508), Aaron Rodgers (528), Peyton Manning (539), Drew Brees (571) and Tom Brady (649).

The Rams are squarely in the national highlight with 4 prime-time video games in 5 weeks. First, the opener in Australia, adopted by the Monday night time recreation. Next week, a Sunday night time recreation at Denver, adopted by a day recreation at Philadelphia, and finally another Monday night time home recreation against Buffalo.

Football coaches detest trying backward, particularly during the season, but before leaving the lectern, McVay made an exception in humorously referring to his crew’s ultra-brief keep in Australia.

“Sometimes you win, sometimes you learn,” he said. “And sometimes you have a dumbass coach who makes travel plans that put you in a bad spot.”