Playoff wins since the Odell Beckham trade: OBJ 1, Giants 0

The Giants didn’t sign him to trade him to watch him win playoff games somewhere else.

But that’s exactly what Odell Beckham Jr. did Monday night with the Los Angeles Rams, scoring his first career postseason victory.

That’s more than the Giants’ zero playoffs victories (and appearances) in the three years since the infamous deal. Giants GM Dave Gettleman since has been ousted, as well.

Beckham was the Rams’ catalyst in blowing open a 34-11 wild card win over the Arizona Cardinals. He caught four passes for 54 yards and a touchdown and completed a 40-yard pass.

He became the first player in NFL postseason history to have a 30-yard reception and a 30-yard passing completion in the same game, per ESPN Stats & Info.

He scored the game’s first touchdown, high-pointing a 4-yard TD pass from Matt Stafford in the first quarter, tapping his toes in the back left corner of the end zone. He had caught a 17-yard pass early in that same drive.

Then he caught a 31-yard pass down to the Cardinals’ 2-yard line in the second quarter — on a play designed specifically for him — to set up a Stafford 1-yard TD sneak for a 14-0 lead

Beckham also completed a 40-yard pass to Rams running back Cam Akers in the third quarter to help set up a Stafford 7-yard TD pass to Cooper Kupp. That ballooned the Rams’ lead to 28-0.

Gettleman unforgettably signed Beckham to a five-year, $90 million extension in August 2018, then traded him at a discount in March 2019 to an NFL Siberia, the Cleveland Browns.

The Browns organization chose Baker Mayfield over Beckham this fall. Beckham’s father went public with rampant examples of the Browns quarterback’s shortcomings and reluctance to throw his son the ball.

That helped OBJ escape from a toxic situation to sign with the Rams, the organization that had first pursued a trade with the Giants for him back in the spring of 2018.

And on Monday, Beckham thrived in his second career playoff game on the big stage of SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, Calif. The win improved the Rams’ record to 6-3 since his signing in November.

It was a meaningful bounce back on the playoff stage for Beckham, whose only previous playoff appearance had been his four catch, 28-yard dud in the Giants’ 38-13 wild card loss at Green Bay in January 2017.

He punched a hole in the wall of the visitors’ locker room that night, venting frustration after a tumultuous week that began with the infamous and ill-advised Boat Trip to Miami six days prior, with veteran Victor Cruz leading the way.

Beckham was rehabbing a torn ACL last year when the Browns reached the playoffs for the first time since 2002 and beat the Steelers before losing to the Chiefs.

The Giants have a 14-35 record and haven’t had a 1,000-yard receiver since trading Beckham.

Their offense has ranked 18th, 31st and 31st in the three years since his trade, respectively. And two head coaches have been fired: Pat Shurmur and Joe Judge.

The Giants’ receiving leaders by yards in the past three years were Darius Slayton (740) in 2019, Slayton (751) again in 2020, and Kenny Golladay (521) this past season.

Beckham eclipsed 1,000 yards receiving in four of his five Giants seasons, and went over 1,300 three times, with a high of 1,450 in 2015. The only season he didn’t go over 1,000 was 2017 when he broke his ankle four games in.

Now he’s flying with the Rams, scheduled to be a free agent after the season, making his best case that the teams who quit on him made a major mistake.

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/3GFE06x