NY Giants Week 6 Player Review: Dynamic Defense, Super Specials

The Giants' defense gave the Eagles offense a taste of its own medicine while special teams continued to dominate.

Oct 9, 2025; East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA; New York Giants linebacker Brian Burns (0) celebrates his sack of Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts (not pictured) with defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence (97) and safety Jevon Holland (8) during the first quarter at MetLife Stadium. | Brad Penner-Imagn Images

There was a lot to like about the New York Giants defense and special teams.

First, we’ll start with the defense. The Giants run defense, for the second week in a row, held the opposing rushing attack in check, limiting Saquon Barkley and crew to just 73 yards on 20 carries and one touchdown, Barkley racking up 58 of those yards.

The pass rush, meanwhile, made up for last week’s blank slate. New York recorded three sacks and three quarterback hits while the coverage had four pass breakups and a big-time interception by Cor’Dale Flott. 

Perhaps most impressive is that Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts, known to inflict pain on opposing defenses with his legs, didn’t do so against the Giants, who played a solid game against him. 

As far as the special teams go, the unit has been among the best in the NFL this season.

“Yeah, they've been very impactful for us, the special teams units, really in every area, punt, punt return, kickoff, kickoff return, field goal, field goal block,” said head coach Brian Daboll.

“I think our coaches have really done a good job with these guys, and these guys have bought into how important it is for our football team. They're playing with high energy, high effort, and they've done a nice job for us.”

Let’s dive into the defensive and special teams crew’s Week 6 performance. 

Defensive Line

Oct 9, 2025; East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA; New York Giants defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence II (97) runs onto the field prior to the game against the Philadelphia Eagles at MetLife Stadium. | Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

⏹Dexter Lawrence II

Still trying to find his big-time game, an elbow injury and an illness have robbed him of strength. Still, Lawrence nevertheless took care of business between the tackles most of the time and, in fact, contributed with five total tackles —a healthy amount.  

He was bullied on a handful of plays, but we liked how he kept the front of the yards on pocket-escape-proof most of the night on passing downs.  Lawrence’s pass rush game has yet to show its face, but his run defense has been very good.

⏹Roy Robertson-Harris

Robertson-Harris’s one solo tackle was a big one in the backfield for a 2-yard loss.  Otherwise, he was being handled rather easily by solo blocking most of the night.  

His pass rush was negligible per usual, while his run defense helped contribute to holding Saquon Barkley to 58 yards on the ground.

⏹Darius Alexander

After last week’s solid push upfield on passing downs, Alexander looked sluggish and uninspired tonight.  He failed to dent the stat sheet, and he disappointed on the passing downs.  

He showed little presence and seemed to take a step back along his rocky rookie road to NFL success.

⏹Rakeem Nunez-Roches

For the second week in a row, Nunez-Roches was a bit of a force between the tackles. 

We liked how he got low and fended off double-teams like we’ve never seen him do before.  He was really bending his knees and getting low.  

Playing low seems to be the key to this veteran’s success.  His four tackles were legit run stuffers.  He’s earning more playing time with the quality of his play.

⏹D.J. Davidson

After a handful of early snaps (where he got in on one tackle), Davidson left the game with what appeared to be a lower-body injury, suffered while defending an Eagles “tush push,” one of the more dangerous plays in football.  He did not return. 

Outside Linebackers 

Oct 9, 2025; East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA; New York Giants linebacker Brian Burns (0) celebrates his sack of Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts (not pictured) during the first quarter at MetLife Stadium. | Brad Penner-Imagn Images

⏹Brian Burns

Burns was all over the field once again and was this defense’s leading playmaker with two sacks (a team-leading seven on the year) and seven total tackles.  

Several of those stops were recorded in coverage, where Burns is so good.  One of these tackles forced a 4th-and-1 and a field goal attempt.  

He blew up at least one running play with an inside flash into the backfield, and played some solid contain whenever a running play came his way.  

Both of his sacks came off the weakside edge.  One came on a stunt, the other off a pure speed rush.  Burns is playing at a very high level.

⏹Kayvon Thibodeaux

Though Thibodeaux didn’t get much done on the pass rush, his run defense was superb.  

After just missing on an edge close early on, he was a force attacking his edge the rest of the way, accumulating all three of his tackles with physical contains and finishes.  

Though the pass rush wasn’t getting home, the defense was playing more of a contain pass rush to contain quarterback Jalen Hurts, and it worked. Thibs contributed to this contain with his disciplined approach.

⏹Abdul Carter

Though Carter came up empty on the stat sheet, he led the defense in pass pressures and was party to all three of the night’s sacks when his stunt work and upfield explosions created so much space for his mates.  

Carter played mostly contain when he wasn’t attacking, playing the smarter game to hold Hurts to just 13 yards on the ground.

⏹Chauncey Golston

Getting a bit more playing time with his return to health, Golston lined up both on the edge and inside on passing downs.  

He contributed his one tackle to stop a Barkley run in the backfield, and also played lots of contain on his pass rushes.

Inside Linebackers 

Oct 9, 2025; East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA; Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver DeVonta Smith (6) carries the ball defended by New York Giants linebacker Bobby Okereke (58) during the first quarter of the game at MetLife Stadium. | Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

⏹Bobby Okerke

On Saquon Barkley’s two big early runs of 18 and 13 yards, Okereke was walled off on both of them and did not catch any flak for these run-game failures.  

The defense bounced back from these two explosive runs to play some very good team run defense the rest of the way.  

Okereke finished with six total tackles plus one pass to a tight end that he knocked away.  

Though Okereke did seem to play with more jump this week, as he did last week, there were also moments when his movements seemed labored when asked to adjust on the fly.

⏹Darius Muasau

Muasau got credit for an early sack when Abdul Carter's pressure forced the quarterback right into his lap.  

Muasau should have had another sack when he blitzed untouched right into the quarterback’s face, but he was out of control and was easily juked inside the pocket, blowing the big play.  

His only tackle on the day was that gift sack.  On one of Barkley’s big early runs, it was Muasau who completely lost contain and sight of Barkley’s cutback; this failure was all on Muasau.  

Otherwise, we thought he played physical, alert ball every snap he was on the field and seemed to be where he was supposed to be.

Defensive Backs

Oct 9, 2025; East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA; New York Giants cornerback Cor'Dale Flott (28) intercepts the pass intended for Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver Jahan Dotson (2) during the fourth quarter of the game at MetLife Stadium. | Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

⏹Paulson Adebo

Getting the difficult task of following dynamic A.J. Brown around the field all night, Adebo started fast with a tight sideline coverage to force an incompletion.  

On the next snap, he had tight coverage on a go route, but Brown came down with a 1-handed catch with Adebo right on his hip.  

It was an uphill battle from there as the Eagles targeted him 9 times, and Adebo allowed six catches for 80 yards on the night. Adebo was in the vicinity of every completion, trying his best to keep everything in front of him.  

Adebo was called for a very iffy interference call when he knocked away the deep throw, but some minor contact was flagged.  

In a later confrontation, two officials threw their flags at Adebo after a collision with Brown, but they were overruled by a third official, who correctly picked up the flag. 

⏹Cor’Dale Flott

The play of the night was Flott’s high-octane break and interception of a red-zone throw in the fourth quarter that went a long way to clinching the win for his team.  

It was a simple down-and-out pattern designed to defeat the blitz that the Giants coaches had called.  

Flott sat on it, and made the big play and the subsequent 68-yard return that set up the offense with the field position for their final nail in the coffin touchdown of the night.  

Flott also had three tackles on the night, two of them against the Eagles' tight end. His best tackle was easily the 3rd-and-4 solo against Barkley in the flat, Flott reacting so quickly to the throw and holding his ground against Barkley’s notorious spin move that he simply rode the great running back out of bounds for no gain.  

On the lucky side, Flott was part of a miscommunication that allowed receiver Devonta Smith to run free, but the pass was overthrown.  

It appeared that Flott was handing off the wideout to a safety (Nubin) who wasn’t there.  The defense dodged a bullet on this play.

⏹Dru Phillips

Phillips missed one short crosser, leaving a wideout to run free for a big gain.  That seemed to be his lone mental mistake. 

When Phillips is not making mental mistakes, he’s as good as they come out there.  He seemed to trust his quicks and feet all night in coverage, as well as finishing off three tackles, including one behind the line of scrimmage.  

Phillips was also Johnny-on-the-spot to recover the late Eagles fumble that finished off tonight’s game.  That turnover gave his team a big 2-0 advantage in that all-important category.

⏹Jevon Holland

This young vet continues to look like he knows what he’s doing back there.  

Holland made several big-time plays tonight, knocking away an end zone throw intended for Barkley, while making the open-field tackle on Barkley on a 3rd-and-long to force a punt.  

Holland finished with three total tackles and spent the rest of his night seemingly covering up for the miscommunications and open spaces that his mates were leaving untended.

⏹Tyler Nubin

We’re rather certain that the culprit in so many of these wide-open receivers prancing through the Giants' secondary is none other than Nubin.  

We’re not sure if it’s the coaches trying to play him like a linebacker that allows so much of the deep space to be wide open week after week. Still, there’s an awful lot of head-scratching among the defensive backs, and it’s usually after Nubin overreacts to something in front of him.  

Whatever Nubin thinks he’s seeing out there is not necessarily so.  His football instincts do not appear very reliable, and we wonder whether they will ever develop, despite all the playing time he has received in his first two years in the league.  

Nubin actually seems more suited to the linebacker role as he plays heavy and downfield; he’s very physical.  He arrives so late to wide-open receivers that it makes one wonder what he's seeing, or not seeing, out there.  

He led the defense with nine tackles, but most were the result of him chasing rather than containing.  Opposing offenses are targeting Nubin every week, and they’re having so much success that it makes one wonder what the coaches are seeing. But it’s hurting the defense and those playing alongside him.  

⏹Dane Belton

The Giants really do get a big bang from the buck out of Belton, who weekly gets only average playing time, but who regularly produces solid stats in those limited snaps.  

He produced a truly impressive 5-tackle game tonight that included one knockaway in coverage, one forced fumble (turnover), and enough smart positional play to fill the stat sheet. 

Special Teams

New York Giants punter Jamie Gillan (12) is shown during pregame practice, Thursday, August 21, 2025, in East Rutherford. | Kevin R. Wexler-NorthJersey.com / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

⏹Jude McAtamney 

The Giants committed to this youngster this week by signing him to the 53-man roster —how does he reward them?  By missing one (wide right) of his five extra point attempts.  

After his miss on the second PAT, McAtamney took the most careful swing of a leg that we’ve ever seen a placekicker make.  The adventures of the Giants’ placekicker have never been smooth and easy.  

In the previous offenses, they were lucky to get the ball to midfield; hence the need for Graham Gano's long-distance prowess.  

With this new offense changing things by actually moving the ball into the red zone and then scoring so many touchdowns, McAtamney hasn’t had to kick a ball longer than 31 yards out.  

The team still doesn’t know what they have in this kid, who hasn’t attempted a kick of any length in his two years with the team. He is said to have had a “big leg,” but can he kick under pressure and from distance?  

Perhaps this Jaxson Dart offense will let the team find out one day, but until this offense cools off, the organization will just have to wait.

⏹Jamie Gillan

After Gillan’s stellar kickoffs last week, we were stunned to see his opening kickoff land short of the landing zone, which gave the Eagles the ball on the 40-yard line.  This field position contributed mightily to the Eagles’ first score.  

Fortunately for the Giants, that was the end of Gillan’s misadventures as he enjoyed a positive performance the rest of the way.  He had kickoffs returned to the 29, 25, 7, 30, and 5.  

No, you’re not seeing things; thanks to the Eagles' returner muffing not one but two of Gillan’s funky kickoffs, they were pinned inside their own 10-yard line twice.  That’s really unusual in today’s NFL.  

Gillan also had a decent-to-good game punting.  Of his four punts, 2 of them forced fair catches at the 11- and 7-yard lines.  Field position was a big plus in the Giants’ favor most of the night.  

Gillan did have one late punt, a 39-yard clunker, that was unacceptable.  He finished with a 38.8 net on the night, which is only average.

⏹Casey Kreiter

More of the relaxed, simple, uncomplicated snapping from this veteran who looks like he could keep on doing this forever.

⏹Gunner Olszewski

Olszewski did a fine job returning the team’s first kickoff to the NYG 45-yard line, his best kickoff return of the night.  

He also had returns to the 33 and 29, also positives. He was equally solid on punt returns, with returns of 15 and 13 yards while making every right decision, always making the first man miss, and displaying pristine ball security.    

⏹Deonte Banks

After last week’s comical embarrassment of a non-block and contact avoidance while “blocking” on a kickoff return, we expected Banks to be a bit more physical tonight while lead-blocking.  

We were wrong.  

Though he seemed to target a coverage man on every single one of his partner’s kickoff returns, it was usually a man on the edges, which Olszewski cut inside from, leaving Banks having not touched a single Eagles player while “blocking.”

⏹Art Green

Green wrapped up a solid kickoff coverage hit tonight and forced both of the Eagles’ fair catches with near-perfect gunner contain. 

⏹Nic Jones

Jones did a great job of punt coverage play early on, not overrunning the returner and making the solo tackle for a minimal gain.  

He also made a solid kickoff solo tackle, while also getting in on the kickoff tackle that pinned the Eagles back on their own 7-yard line.  Jones’ 3 special teams tackles led the team.

⏹Neville Hewitt

The lead tackler on that coverage at the 7-yard line was this veteran, who read the play perfectly, stayed in his lane, and finished off the returner with a resounding hit.  Hewitt also assisted with another kickoff coverage tackle. 

⏹Dane Belton

Belton made a great solo kickoff tackle at the 25-yard line and another punt coverage tackle for a short gain. Belton’s special teams play this year has been uniformly outstanding.

⏹Zaire Barnes

The Giants' recent signing was promoted from the practice squad for tonight’s game and flashed on several coverages, getting in on one of the kickoff tackles.

⏹Darius Muasau

Finally showing up on the special teams tackle sheet, we expected more special teams work from this second-year player, who made his college name on specials.  

So far, Muasua has not been stellar on the coverage teams.  Perhaps this week’s punt coverage tackle will get him started. 

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