And there’s plenty of blame to go around, too. Just check out these takeaways from the Giants’ fourth loss of the year. As you’ll see, the defense deserved so much better:

-Before getting to the blame... It really was a terrific performance by the Giants defense. This Rams team came in averaging 30 points and 450 yards per game with a legitimate array of dangerous weapons. But all the Giants gave up was an opening drive touchdown on a short sweep to tight end Gerald Everett. They had terrific coverage to really limit the options for Rams QB Jared Goff (25 of 32, 200 yards, one touchdown) and no one would’ve expected that out of the Giants’ secondary. In all, they held the Rams to just 182 net passing yards.

-A huge chunk of those yards came midway through the fourth quarter on the 55-yard touchdown from Goff to Cooper Kupp that sealed the game for the Rams. It was a completely busted coverage. CB Logan Ryan blitzed and S Julian Love didn’t pick him up. Kupp then got behind LB Blake Martinez and nobody was there.

-And now the bad. A lot of the blame for the offense is going to fall on QB Daniel Jones, because he again put up game-manager-like stats (23 of 36, 190 yards, one interception). It’s hard to tell from the TV, but it didn’t look like he had a lot of help from his receivers. And he definitely didn’t have much help from his offensive line (especially in the first half). And he’s getting no support from his running game. And... yeah, it’s hard to put the blame on Jones.

-The Giants’ offensive line was atrocious in the first half. Jones was sacked four times on the first four drives. Rookie left tackle Andrew Thomas, in particular, really struggled. The pressure Jones was under is a big reason why the Giants had 11 total yards for most of the first half, until they tacked on 56 in the two-minute drill at the end of the first half when the Rams’ D was sitting back a little. It did get better in the second half, especially in the run game. But it is still very much a work in progress.

-The Giants actually started to show a little life in the run game without Saquon Barkley, though really that’s just because the bar is set so low. They rushed for 136 yards, which is good, but 45 of those came from their quarterback which isn’t ideal. It’s a sad indictment on the Giants that Jones running for his life remains their best play. Jones and running back Wayne Gallman tied for the Giants’ rushing lead with six carries for 45 yards each.

-The Giants did get some production out of RB Devonta Freeman as receiver, especially late in the game. He finished with four catches for 45 yards. They need to do more of that.

-Guard Kevin Zeitler jumped and got called for a false start when the Giants were lining up at the end of the first quarter just to try and draw the Rams offsides. They weren't going to run a play. Zeitler had to know that. How in the world does he even flinch with one second left? Terrible.

-One thing missing from the Giants’ stellar defensive effort: No pass rush. They got a sack each from LB Kyler Fackrell and DT Austin Johnson and both were really more due to the coverage than anything else.

-The Giants desperately tried to make Evan Engram part of the offense, targeting him 10 times. He caught six of them for only 35 yards. He is not becoming the breakout player they were expecting.

-It’s bad. It’s all bad... But... Don’t look now, but the Giants (0-4) could be playing for a share of the NFC East lead against the Dallas Cowboys (1-3) next week. Yes, the division really is that terrible.

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