Giants Defense and Special Teams Grades: Safeties Shine, Kicking Game Falters

You win some, you lose some.

But when you lose by death by a thousand paper cuts, as the New York Giants did in their 24-21 loss to the Washington Commanders on Thursday night, those are hard to swallow. That’s especially true when the loss came against a divisional opponent the Giants could have buried for the season and used to pad their lead in the NFC East.

“It’s a missed opportunity, but like I told the guys, it would have been great to win the game, but it doesn’t change our goals or our opportunity going forward,” head coach John Harbaugh said after the game.

“So, it’s a tough loss. It’s the National Football League. You’re going to lose some games. And everybody in this league is good. The Commanders are good. Everybody’s good. So, I mean, we have a really good team coming in here next Sunday [the Jacksonville Jaguars]. A team that we can beat, so we’ve just got to get back to work.”

That’s really all they can do, but let’s be frank: they could have used the win against Washington to carry some positive momentum into what is essentially the teeth of their schedule.

Four of the Giants’ next five opponents have winning records, and if the Giants’ goal is to get to the playoffs and make some noise, teams like those coming up over the next few weeks are what they will have to beat to prove they belong.

“We’ve got to find a way to get the next one. And the next one after that. And the next one after that. And get as many as we need to win the division. That’s what we’ve got to find a way to do. So trying to keep it in perspective is very important,” Harbaugh added.

It’s also probably easier said than done.

On that note, let’s look at what the film told us about the players on defense and special teams.

Defensive Line

D.J. Reader

This big guy has spoiled us with his big-time nose tackle play so far this year, but he took a bit of a step back this week.

His lone tackle came on a splash play: a hustle tackle outside the box near the goal line that forced a third-and-goal.

The problem was that it came outside the box, where the defense needed Reader to be a bit more dominant between the tackles. The Commanders’ 105 yards on the ground were just enough to keep things two-dimensional.

Reader was physical as always, but he wasn’t finding the ball as well as he does. He seemed a bit sluggish and not as quick-thinking as he’s been.

Bobby Jamison-Travis

Contributing again as the rotation nose tackle, Jamison-Travis finished with two tackles and regularly held his gap while also running to the edges when the ball went that way.

This kid stays on his feet most of the time. His pass-rushing remains nonexistent, but the life in his feet suggests there may be something to work with. The kid is getting plenty of serious snaps right now, and he’s holding up just fine.

Shelby Harris

Harris recorded his first sack of the year as the beneficiary of an Abdul Carter edge rush that attracted lots of attention.

Harris exploited the space by looping around the edge and then corralling the fleet-footed quarterback for the huge third-quarter sack.

Harris finished with four total tackles, including a quarterback hit and a tackle for loss. He seemed unusually fresh out there Thursday night.

Darius Alexander

Pitching in with his requisite one tackle, Alexander played exclusively on passing downs and showed a bit of buzz around the pocket, though with little finish.

His run defense continues to struggle, as he lacks the upper-body strength to shed a solo block. His strength is his lower-body agility, but he’s still not translating that talent into consistent production.

Dawuane Smoot

Getting another practice squad elevation, Smoot contributed much as he did last week with solid physical positional play and just enough mobility to chase in small places.

He finished with one assist while playing on his feet and absorbing power.

Outside Linebackers

Abdul Carter

The fourth-and-goal pressure that Carter created should have been a bigger play, but the Commanders lucked out when the desperation heave into the end zone found an unwitting tight end’s hands for the score.

Carter did draw a fourth-quarter hold, but that was the extent of his pass-rush production. He faced some double teams, but nothing like last week, and he was unusually quiet again.

Washington also targeted his edge, as Carter was too often easily handled by solo blocking.

Double teams are neutralizing his explosiveness, and he isn’t making up for it with physicality. He’s got to find ways to fight through this attention, especially in big moments.

He finished with three total tackles, including a tackle for loss, but he needs more in his arsenal.

Kayvon Thibodeaux

Thibodeaux’s eight total tackles this week were easily a season high, as he’s been picking up his play week by week and reached Thursday night’s level.

Most of his plays came against the run, either closing down from his edge or hustling to chase things down.

Several of his tackles came while chasing the quarterback out of bounds, and several more came while chasing down wide receivers.

Though he did produce a couple of decent pass rushes, he never got close to the end zone. He had no quarterback hits or tackles for loss on his sheet.

Trace Ford

Getting a fair share of snaps at outside linebacker, Ford did a decent job holding his edge and chasing in pursuit, but he never found the ball.

Ford was hardly used in coverage this week, which had been his “thing” earlier in the year.

Inside Linebackers

Arvell Reese

Leading the team with 13 total tackles, the rookie had none of last week’s big plays, though he did a fine job cleaning up things between the tackles using not only his raw physical ability but also his eyes.

His reads seem to be sharp and always under control. The Commanders did a good job recognizing Reese’s blitzes and neutralizing them, but he also spent most of those blitzes staying in front to contain the scrambling quarterback.

That strategy worked, as it forced Jayden Daniels to throw the ball late in the game and led to two interceptions, either one of which should have ended the game. Reese played a quietly effective game nonetheless despite the absence of flash plays.

Micah McFadden

Finishing second on the stat sheet with nine total tackles, McFadden was instrumental in stopping the occasional bleeding of the Washington run game with knifing attacks through the right gaps and stopping runs dead in their tracks.

He should have gotten credit for two tackles for loss, but the sheet shows only one.

McFadden was flagged for a fourth-quarter pass interference call when he rode a running back executing an out-and-up against him. He was slightly beaten, but not egregiously.

McFadden got credit for the biggest hit of the night on defense when he smacked Daniels on a fourth-quarter keeper, hitting him face up and stopping him dead in his tracks.

Cornerbacks

Greg Newsome II

The team’s CB1 played another tight, forceful game, showing a couple of leaks but nothing egregious. Newsome’s tackle number on the sheet is usually significant since he’s such an aggressive hunter against the run.

He added four more tackles to his total, but very few passes targeted his area as the Commanders stayed away from him as much as possible.

Deonte Banks

Early on, Banks’ tight coverage on a slant forced a near-interception. He also managed three total tackles, including one in the backfield. But for every good play Banks makes, he also takes away.

As he did last week, Banks was targeted in a big moment. The opposition got a pass interference penalty that the officials couldn’t get out of their pockets fast enough, and the Commanders moved into their winning touchdown.

When Washington got the ball back at its own 29-yard line with 1:49 left in the fourth quarter, trailing by four, its first play was a deep shot right at Banks, who lost his man off the snap. The 33-yard penalty jump-started the drive.

It was an iffy call, but when Banks once again refused to look back for the ball, the resulting contact made the official’s job easy.

To make matters worse, on Washington’s game-winning catch-and-run touchdown, Banks had a legitimate chance to get in on the tackle, but instead he lollygagged around contact and watched the wideout prance into the end zone.

All this did was lower Banks’ price tag for next offseason. He has value as a CB2 or CB3, but he is far, far from elite when the opposition attacks you deep whenever they need a big play.

Dru Phillips

In coverage, Phillips was beaten like a drum again. He lost coverage to a tight end for 24 yards, and he lost Stefon Diggs in the slot for the game-winning touchdown.

What Phillips was doing playing press in that situation is beyond us, but he had no chance of staying with Diggs off the line. The coaches put Phillips in an impossible situation, and he failed.

On the plus side, earlier Phillips made one great edge tackle for no gain and several positive blitzes, but there were also several missed tackles, including one in the backfield and one on the Diggs touchdown.

With all the good and bad in his game, the coaches obviously feel Phillips is more of a positive than a negative. Still, in that last-gasp situation, it might have been smarter to have Paulson Adebo on the field to at least keep things in front of him, since that is Adebo’s game.

Safeties

Ar’Darius Washington

Talk about a player who has taken his opportunity to play and run with it. Ar’Darius Washington certainly won the starting safety job alongside Jevon Holland with his play all over the field.

Early on, he made a quick read on an inside run, but he missed the tackle in the backfield, though he did slow the play down. In the second half, the big plays started coming.

On a third-and-5 with the Commanders moving in Giants territory, he made a lightning-quick read in the flat to tackle a tight end two yards short of the marker. On the resulting fourth-and-2, he made a huge pass breakup to force a turnover on downs.

The safety made another great fourth-down play, luring Daniels into a down-and-out and jumping the route to make the interception.

If only he had stayed on his feet, he could have turned this into a pick-six and a two-score lead, but he fell to his knees after making the interception. Washington’s six total tackles and uber-aggressive play all over the field are things that this defense desperately needs more of.

Jevon Holland

New York Giants safety Jevón Holland (8) catches an interception as Washington Commanders tight end Chig Okonkwo (85) defends during a game at MetLife Stadium, Nov 12, 2026, East Rutherford, NJ, USA. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

Holland was beaten on a third-quarter third-and-1 play-action crossing pattern when the defense blitzed, and the blitz was picked up. The play ended in the end zone, giving the Commanders a 17-14 lead.

Holland was all over the field, primarily in coverage, and helped in run support with alert reads and four total tackles. His huge interception should have won the game for this team as it came just outside the red zone with the Commanders on the move.

Holland showed how it’s done, maintaining tight coverage on the out-and-up, and then turning his head at the precise moment to track the ball and make the big-time interception.

It was bad luck that Holland’s interception was marked at the 2-yard line, not as a touchback, because it sent the Giants coaches into conservative mode, from which they never recovered.

Jason Pinnock

Pinnock’s loss on the Commanders’ first touchdown of the night, a fourth-and-goal throw to a backup tight end, occurred when he peeked into the backfield at the mobile quarterback.

At the same time, the tight end lumbered across the end zone and accidentally caught the pass that seemed targeted for someone else.

It was Pinnock’s bad luck that this happened, but he also let the tight end beat him across his face and get open.

This wasn’t Pinnock’s only bad play. We spotted three missed tackles and a sorry lack of speed when he tried to block a gunner on a punt return. The shocking lack of open-field speed tells you all you need to know about Pinnock’s journeyman status in the league.

That he had been the starter tells you something about the depth’s shortcomings. Suffice it to say that Pinnock will likely go back to depth status, where he belongs, with Ar’Darius Washington’s ascension to the starting lineup.

Tyler Nubin

Getting in on a rare third-and-30 third-quarter snap, Nubin mixed it up with the entire Washington offense after the play and was fortunate that his teammates pulled him away.

Still, it was nice to see Nubin’s feisty and physical attitude in the middle of things out there.

Special Teams

Dominic Zvada

Thursday night was the special teams’ worst game of the year, as they collectively left so much yardage out on the field that it almost boggles the mind.

It started with this rookie placekicker, whose 33-yard miss early on took the air out of the entire team. It would have given the Giants an early three-point lead, and it was three points the Giants never got back.

The miss came from the right hash, which is apparently something that this rookie can’t seem to solve.

Then, immediately after the Giants took a fourth-quarter 21-17 lead, Zvada sent his kickoff too close to the sideline, where it went out of bounds, gifting the Commanders starting field position at their own 40-yard line.

Also of note, Zvada was badly out-kicked by the Washington placekicker, who is also an undrafted free agent from this year’s draft. Though Zvada made all three of his extra points, we are concerned that every one of them came with a hook.

When he kicks the ball right, as he did on all four of last week’s long field goals, there is no hook. Not Thursday night. All hooks. If this kid can’t control his kicking technique under pressure and in the elements, then it’s time to move on.

Jordan Stout

Stout was having another great punting night. His first pinned the Commanders at their own 8. His second was a 64-yarder that yielded one return yard and pinned them at their own 12.

His third was a pooch punt that landed at the 3-yard line, but the gunner couldn't make a play on the ball as it bounded into the end zone for a touchback. His fourth was a massive 68-yarder from his own 7-yard line, making the field position somewhat manageable.

But then his fifth punt became a total disaster. Attempting a pooch punt from the Washington 41-yard line, he could manage only a 12-yarder.

This was the worst time to screw up, with the game on the line, and it was a total choke job on a unit that was coughing up fur balls all game long.

Ben Mann

No bad balls came from this rookie, who was sharp all game long with his deep-snapping.

Charlie Jones

Jones’ adventures included at least coming up and securing his first short punt of the night.

However, on the Commanders’ second punt, Jones didn't come up quickly enough to catch it on the fly, allowing the short punt to bounce and roll into a 56-yard punt with no return. There goes that field position of 20 yards or more.

Jones managed to fair-catch two other punts that were returnable, except that the Washington gunner was in his face on each one, forcing the fair catches.

Greg Desrosiers

In an organization that has seen its share of mediocre kickoff returns the last few years, Desrosiers unfortunately needs to be added to that list.

On none of Desrosiers’ returns did he show any aggressive reading and attacking of the defense.

He didn’t look any better than Eric Gray did, and Gray is on the team’s practice squad.

On Desrosiers’ final return, he fumbled while bumbling and stumbling into the chaos, and was fortunate that a teammate recovered the loose ball.

Devin Singletary

On his lone kickoff return, Singletary looked so slow that we were happy that he at least reached the 20-yard line. Not a single Giants kickoff return made it out to the 30-yard line.

Nic Jones

Adding to last week’s misadventures at gunner, Jones missed two tackles and had a chance to catch a pooch punt at the 3-yard line, but he was overwhelmed and never tracked the ball.

Jones was also one of many who could not lay a finger on his opposite gunner when attempting to block.

As a result, the Giants had several chances to return punts, except that the Commanders’ gunner was constantly in Charlie Jones’ face.

Elijah Campbell

The veteran gunner made a nice open-field tackle on a punt return.

Zaire Barnes

Adding to his totals, Barnes recorded yet another punt return tackle and was around the ball on every kickoff coverage.

Chandler Martin

Elevated from the practice squad for Thursday night’s game (replacing Malik Harrison on the active roster), Martin made his biggest special teams play when he alertly recovered a fourth-quarter fumble.

Trace Ford

Ford made a huge hit on kickoff coverage.

Theo Johnson

Johnson recorded a heavy solo tackle, also on kickoff coverage.

Jason Pinnock/Colton Hood

Pinnock and Hood were slow in their double-team blocking on gunners, and neither looked fast enough or talented enough for this difficult job.

Tyler Nubin

The more we see Nubin play special teams, the more we like what we see. He not only continues to handle the punt fullback duties, but his enforcer style is just what this group needs. His lone special teams tackle Thursday night came on kickoff coverage.

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