TLDR: With Puka Nacua sidelined, Davante Adams was the whole Rams passing game on Monday night — and he was outgaining the Giants by himself at the half.
- Mon Sep 218:44 PM CT
A diving catch from Adams and a Giants scoreboard reading 3-14 in the 2nd quarter
Monday Night Football against the Giants was supposed to be a showcase for Puka Nacua and the Rams' vertical passing game. Instead it turned into the Davante Adams show. Nacua was dealing with hip soreness that had him trending out of the lineup all week, and once he was ruled out, the entire target share funneled to Adams.
That opportunity showed up fast. Adams had a quiet 3-catch, 26-yard opener in Week 1, but Monday night he was already carrying the Rams' offense before halftime. Barstool's gambling desk tracked it live, and the split was almost comical — Adams alone had more total yards than the entire Giants offense.
Total yards at halftime Davante Adams: 145 The New York Giants: 112
The betting market had already priced in a big workload for Adams the moment Nacua's name came off the injury report, but nobody was projecting Adams to lap the opposing offense's total yardage by himself before the break. The night got weirder for the Giants beyond the yardage gap, too — starting quarterback Jaxson Dart left in the first quarter with a knee injury after getting hit high and low, forcing Jameis Winston into the game.
“No Nakua just changes everything for that Rams offense... we're not seeing a huge boost for Devontae Adams. His receiving yards prop is still in the low to mid 60s.”
That take came out before kickoff, when the market was still cautious on how much volume Adams would actually see stepping into the No. 1 role. By the second quarter it looked outdated — Adams was already blowing past that number, and Barstool Gambling's account had the receipts to prove it in real time.
The reaction online leaned into the moment with jokes rather than analysis — one post from a meme account slapped an unrelated clip of a guy rollerblading down his driveway with the caption "Davante Adams tonight," playing off the idea that Adams looked like he still had it. It's not game footage, just the internet having fun with a receiver having a night.
Davante Adams tonight
For the Rams, the real story is what this means going forward if Nacua's hip keeps him out longer than one week — Adams just showed the offense doesn't fall off a cliff without its top target. For the Giants, the bigger concern walks off the field with Dart, whose knee is now the thing to watch this week. Both threads run right through Monday night, and neither gets fully answered until the injury reports come out.
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