Giants Defense Better in Week 16 vs. Vikings, Except in One Area

The New York Giants' defense had one of its better games in Week 16, which you could say is progress for a unit that’s finally showing signs of settling down under new defensive coordinator Charlie Bullen.

There was still a little sloppiness to be had, specifically the chunk plays allowed on third down. The Vikings converted four third-down attempts requiring at least ten yards with ease, a problem that continues to follow the Giants' defense.

But the multiple turnovers and a better job against the run were nice things to see in an otherwise losing effort.

Defensive Line

Dexter Lawrence

Despite a much more visible performance from the big guy today, the big finishes never happened.

On the game’s opening possession, a huge hit on the quarterback right up the gut on third down forced a field goal. We haven’t seen much of that kind of pocket collapse lately.

He deflected a ball at the line of scrimmage, and his one lonely tackle came in the backfield.

He was around the ball more often and was holding his ground against the double team better. He was flagged for a silly defensive holding call on a running play when all he was doing was fighting off one of those double teams.

Roy Robertson-Harris

Continuing to finish strong, this veteran finished with four total tackles and just as many solid point-of-attack wins to help the defense hold the Vikings to a manageable 114 yards on the ground. Robertson-Harris also pitched in with a hit on a scrambling quarterback.

Darius Alexander

Though he never did find the ball, the rookie had some solid pass-rush wins, controlling his man with one arm as he drove him upfield.

We like Alexander’s power game, but there’s a serious lack of flexibility in his lower body that gets him stuck in the mud.

There’s too little disruption in his game. He needs to play faster off the snap, but if he’s too stiff to maneuver, then he’s going to have to make it as a power player. He needs to be lighter on his feet.

D.J. Davidson

Getting just a handful of snaps before exiting with a neck injury, Davidson never got into the flow of the game, but still managed to get a piece of a tackle in those limited snaps.

Elijah Chatman

In his 15-20 snaps, Chatman flashed several times in pursuit and managed a decent bull rush. He finished with one run-game tackle.

Chatman strangely ran himself out of the hole on the Vikings' final running play that clinched their win.

Outside Linebackers

Dec 21, 2025; East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA; New York Giants linebacker Abdul Carter (51) sacks Minnesota Vikings quarterback Max Brosmer (12) during the second half at MetLife Stadium. | Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

Brian Burns

Burns got himself two rather cheap sacks this week. One came on a scrambling quarterback with Burns playing contain, the other coming unblocked from the quarterback’s blind side.

It’s amazing, though, how Burns is around the ball so much that these generous occurrences keep coming his way.

On the second sack, Burns not only jarred the ball out of the quarterback’s grasp for the fumble and the resulting Tyler Nubin touchdown, but it knocked starting quarterback J.J. McCarthy out of the game with a hand injury.

Burns finished the day with four total tackles and spent a lot of his time in the Vikings' backfield.

Abdul Carter

Burns may have gotten all the big play glory today, but Carter was the defense’s best and most disruptive player, and it wasn’t even close.

On the Vikings' first possession, Carter came out like a man possessed, creating three separate pressures from three different angles.

His lone negative came in the second quarter, when he lined up in the neutral zone at strongside edge in the red zone, the resulting flag negative a Giants Pick-6.

On the very next play, Carter forced a sack with another edge pressure. He next drew a red zone hold on a speed rush from the weak side.

On the Adebo interception, it was Carter who was right in the quarterback’s face off an inside edge rush.

And guess who disrupted the Vikings receiver screen that made J.J. McCarthy double-clutch, allowing Brian Burns to make the hit that turned into the Giants’ lone touchdown of the game? Yup, Carter.

Carter followed that up with an electric spin move up the middle for a sack (he has sacks in three successive games).

We love how the coaches are moving Carter around out there, from both edges to off-ball in the middle.

He did a lot of his disrupting, attacking the middle, where he’s getting one-on-ones against an interior lineman.

He’s so much quicker than they are, especially that spin move, which was eating up the Vikings' interior. How Carter finished with just two tackles on the sheet tells you all you need to know about stats.

Chauncy Golston

Playing his best game as a Giant, Golston was a force against the run whenever he was on the field.

His two contain downs in pursuit of the opening possession both went for no gain. A third run game tackle, this time holding his edge contain and finishing in the backfield, was textbook contain.

It seemed like the coaches finally figured out how to use Golston, as he was around the ball whenever he was out there. Though his pass rush game wasn’t much, he finished a third-down red zone contain for a sack to force a second-half field goal.

To top it all off, Golston drew a holding call on another edge run. He finished with an impressive six total tackles in limited snaps. What a great edge game Golston played this week!

Tomon Fox

Getting his smattering of edge snaps, Fox played a quiet game.

Inside Linebackers

Bobby Okereke

Leading the defense with a healthy 13 total tackles, it was certainly one of Okereke’s better games of the year.

He made several plays in coverage, including knocking a ball away from a short-crossing wideout.

He was filling holes out there and dealing with contact better than we’ve seen. Okereke seems to be getting narrower by the week.

The lack of physicality is a problem, though the increase in mobility may be more significant.

Darius Muasau

Getting the other start in the middle, Muasau played more of a contain-and-protect game, rarely around the ball.

His three lonely assists attested to the limited impact that he had on today’s game.

Defensive Backs

Paulson Adebo

The veteran had a deflected pass drop right into his hands along the sideline, giving the Giants a rare turnover.

Adebo did well to drag his feet in the field of play before falling out of bounds. The team’s beleaguered WR room could learn a thing or two from Adebo’s tightrope walking act.

Adebo, who typically compiles high tackle numbers, totaled only two tackles this week. He allowed several healthy completions in front of him as he refused to allow himself to get beaten deep.

Adebo also refuses to get physically involved. It was a really bad look on his part, backing away from contact at the goal line, leaving it to someone else to make the hit.

Adebo not only doesn’t hang around piles, but he also backs away from them like they’re the plague. This corner group’s distaste for contact is alarming.

Cor’Dale Flott

Flott isn’t one of the corners that avoids contact; he just lacks the goods to back it up when he throws himself into the action.

Early on, Flott made a poor third-down read – we thought we were watching Deonte Banks lose edge contain while inside support was right there, but no, it was Flott allowing Justin Jefferson to run around him and get a cheap first down. This was Flott’s tackle to make, and he blew it.

Flott also got lucky in the end zone when he allowed a wideout to get behind him, but the wideout dropped the ball when he hit the ground. It should have been a touchdown in more favorable conditions.

Otherwise, most of Flott’s coverage was tight and reliable. He had to leave mid-game with a knee injury and did not return.

Dru Phillips

After several stellar games, Phillips was pretty much a non-factor today. Though he did contribute with three tackles, he was also late to react to several short throws while playing soft zone and not attacking the action quickly enough, thus allowing himself to be walled out of the play.

Later in the game, Phillips committed an idiotic, unnecessary roughness penalty after the play, right in front of the officials.

Deonte Banks

Stepping in for Flott and finishing the game on the corner, Banks did his typical best by allowing two runs to get around him to the sideline, including a tailor-made opportunity to make a solo tackle in space.

He refused to attack the moment, played it passively, and watched helplessly as the back ran right around him, leaving it to someone else to make the tackle.

Once the Vikings saw Banks on the field, they went right at him, both on the ground and through the air, with predictable success. He was a non-factor.

Jevon Holland

Playing one of his more active games of the year, Holland was aggressive coming up and attacking the line of scrimmage right from the start.

He was around the ball a lot but never quite at the right moment. Most of his tackles were contain ones.

The play of the game should have belonged to Holland, who was Johnny-on-the-spot in the red zone to snag a deflected pass and take it 96 yards for what appeared to be a Pick-6.

Alas, Holland’s huge pick and return was negated by Abdul Carter having lined up in the neutral zone. Such an innocuous label for such a gut-wrenching call.

Tyler Nubin

Nubin finally made a play on the blitz when, on Minny’s first possession, he blitzed off the edge and leapt to deflect a receiver screen that had big yardage written all over it.

Nubin was a force against the run throughout, finishing with six total tackles. Eventually, this defense is going to realize that Nubin loves to force the issue between the tackles, which should lead the edge contain to give Nubin the inside and focus on the edge. That still isn’t happening.

Nubin remains slow to react in zone coverage. His big play of the day was picking up the quarterback fumble and returning it 27 yards for the second-quarter touchdown that turned a laugher into a competitive game.

Nubin was injured late in the game, but he shook it off, returned to the action, and finished it on the field.

We’re really starting to appreciate Nubin’s toughness while waiting patiently for his playmaking to show its face.

Dane Belton

Pitching in with four tackles as the third safety in three-safety looks, Belton remains much more effective attacking things in front of him. Still, his reactions in off-ball zone coverage are ponderous and lack the instinct that his game has been moving downhill.

He allowed several easy completions in front of him when he wasn’t aware of receivers entering his zone.

Watching the play unfold in front of you is part of how it’s done at safety. Still, the Giants' safeties seem more interested in just watching the quarterback’s eyes while unaware of the potential receiver in their area.

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