The Los Angeles Rams are a team worth buying into through two weeks, and the reasoning goes beyond the star power on the surface.

Matthew Stafford, head coach Sean McVay, Davante Adams, and a defensive line full of contributors all flashed in the Monday night win over the New York Giants. Even with significant injuries threatening to derail the early-season momentum, Los Angeles showed it can win football games in multiple ways.

Week 1 was always going to be difficult to evaluate.

The Rams traveled across the world, dealt with the disorganization that comes with those international trips, and played through all the weirdness that defines early-season football in a foreign setting. There wasn’t much worth taking away from that game in either direction.

The injury picture isn’t as bleak as it looks

The Myles Garrett injury stinks, but from the sounds of it, this won’t be a season-ending situation. You trust that he’ll be back relatively soon.

The Puka Nacua situation is just part of who Nacua is as a player. He plays a physical brand of football, and he’s going to get banged up at times and miss two or three games every single year. That’s what Nacua does.

As long as Stafford is healthy and McVay is calling the shots, this is a team that will always have a shot to make a playoff run.

Multiple paths to victory

The Giants game was the perfect example. Even though New York was an imperfect team after Jaxson Dart got hurt, Los Angeles showcased the ability to win in different ways. Stafford had a strong outing, throwing for four touchdown passes and over 300 yards.

The run game also looked tremendous with Kyren Williams and Blake Corum carrying the load effectively. Adams proved he can still be a legitimate No. 1 wide receiver in the NFL when you need him to be.

There are going to be weeks where the Rams lean on the ground game. There are going to be weeks where they lean on Stafford’s arm. Having that kind of flexibility is what separates contenders from pretenders.

The defensive line depth is the real story

The blessing in disguise from the Garrett absence is that younger defensive linemen are getting far more runway than they would have otherwise.

Players like Byron Young and Josaiah Stewart dominated the Giants’ offensive line and made that group look terrible after it had played well in Week 1. That kind of production from depth pieces is exactly why this team should be taken seriously.

The depth of star power is the key phrase. This isn’t about the 53rd man on the roster stepping up. It’s about having a Davante Adams who can step in, turn back time, and go for 200 yards and two touchdowns. It’s about Aaron Donald returning and looking shockingly normal after time away from the game.

Donald didn’t put up a monster stat line. One pressure, no sacks. Nobody should go overboard about his performance.

But the expectation was that it would look rough for a while, and it never looked rough. He came back and was doing the thing. For a player who had been away from football, the fact that he continued his streak of never having a game without at least one pressure says everything about who he is.

The win-now model carries risk

The Rams have operated with a clear win-now mentality. Shipping a young developing edge rusher to Cleveland in exchange for a player who is now on injured reserve is the kind of move that comes with that territory. There are real questions about the youth and development on this roster.

That’s fair.

But Monday night’s game answered the bigger question. Los Angeles can be down its top receiver and its top pass rusher and still roll out a Davante Adams game and an Aaron Donald comeback performance. That kind of resilience from the roster’s star depth is what makes this team dangerous.

As long as Stafford stays healthy, the Rams have the coaching, the talent, and the depth of difference-makers to remain in the playoff conversation all season.