Two early knockout blows helped St. Louis.
On the first play from scrimmage, linebacker Michael Jones and free safety Keith Lyle sandwiched Giants quarterback Dave Brown at the end of a 6-yard scramble, knocking him unconscious.
On the Giants’ second series, running back Tiki Barber needed several minutes to recover from a jarring collision with strong safety Toby Wright. While both players eventually got up, New York’s offense never recovered from that 1-2 punch.
“When Tyrone Wheatley came into the huddle, you could see he had fear in his eyes,” Jones said. “If you’re an offensive player, you start wondering in the back of your mind, who’s going to go next?”
Brown’s state of mind: “I was a little bit foggy, but I was fine after that.”
Not so, judging from the statistics. The Giants got only 192 yards total offense, the fewest allowed by the Rams’ defense in two seasons. It came a week after St. Louis allowed 35 points at Denver.
Jeff Wilkins kicked two field goals and Craig Heyward scored a late touchdown on a 4-yard run for the Rams (2-2).
Heyward made his playing weight of 265 pounds for the first time a few days before the game, and scored only the Rams’ third touchdown in three games with 2:42 to go. In previous weeks, coach Dick Vermeil said Heyward was too fat and missed too many assignments to be a back he could count on.
“I wish I could describe what it felt like, but this is a family show,” Heyward said.
