Giants Defense and Special Teams Report Card: Dru Phillips Shines, Run Defense Struggles Against Commanders

The New York Giants’ defense rode an emotional roller coaster Sunday in a 27-27 tie with the Washington Commanders.

It started badly, with Washington driving 69 yards for a touchdown in four plays on its opening possession, and it continued to be gashed by Washington quarterback Jayden Daniels’ legs all afternoon. The Commanders finished with 202 rushing yards, and Daniels alone had 103 of those plus two touchdowns.

Eventually, though, Giants defensive coordinator Dennard Wilson changed things up a bit and began to blitz more. Per Next Gen Stats, the Giants blitzed 62% of the time (24 times) against the Commanders, with four of the sacks against quarterback Jayden Daniels coming via the blitz.

Fourteen of the 24 blitzes Wilson dialed up came in the fourth quarter and overtime, and in 10 dropbacks by Daniels, the Giants ran Cover 0 (no deep safeties), resulting in three sacks.

Here is how each defensive player and special teams contributor graded out against the Commanders.

Defensive Line

D.J. Reader

The Giants continued to get solid run defense from this veteran, with Reader finishing with five total tackles from the nose tackle spot and getting into the backfield on a couple of other snaps to disrupt things.

Reader is impossible to move off his mark, even against double teams. The Giants are really getting a bang for the buck, as Reader has had as much of an influence on this year’s improved run defense as anybody.

C.J. Okoye

This huge backup nose tackle worked his way into a tackle on the edge, but he was completely invisible on Washington’s opening 33-yard touchdown run.

What Okoye was doing on the field four snaps into the game is a mystery, but he’s got to do something more than be walked out of his gap.

This defense has had two terrible starts these last two games, and it needs fixing.

Shelby Harris

With three more tackles and another pass knocked down at the line of scrimmage, Harris is a consistent presence along the line.

The coaches would like to get some pass rush out of him, but his pass breakups and solid run defense are contributions enough.

He’s got a nice combination of physicality and mobility, sprinkling in his experience to get to places he probably shouldn’t be able to go.

Darius Alexander

We’re starting to see flashes of competitiveness from this second-year player. Alexander doesn’t seem as overwhelmed by double teams as he has in the past, and even when pushed back, he fought his way back into the scrum.

This ability to fight and compete needs to show up every week.

Alexander has gotten a healthy snap count these past two weeks, as the coaches are giving him more responsibility.

He contributed two tackles and a solid push upfield on passing downs, including a smart contain on a broken pocket that forced a throwaway.

Alexander finished the game on the field and seems to be gaining that coaching trust.

Jihad Ward

Getting his first snaps as a member of the Giants’ 2026 team, the veteran interior player lined up exclusively in a three-point stance and managed a solo tackle in very limited action, taking some of the playing time that Chauncey Golston received.

Ward has a way to go before he approaches the weekly impact Golston has been providing.

Outside Linebackers

Abdul Carter

Recording his second sack of the young season with an electric weakside pass rush, Carter did well to run down the ever-elusive Washington quarterback from behind.

Carter created more havoc late in the game with his pass rush, as the coaching decision to blitz from every angle freed him to avoid double teams and get into attack mode, where he’s at his best.

Carter finished with five total tackles, his best hit coming in overtime when he blasted a back in the flat, forcing a fumble that Washington was fortunate to recover. Had the Giants recovered, it would have been one of the game’s biggest plays.

Overall, Carter was a bit too complacent in accepting a contain edge role and let a tight end block him. He’s got to become more physical defending his edge.

Kayvon Thibodeaux

Playing his best game of the season, Thibodeaux created decent pressure off the weak side, something he hasn’t done at all through the first four games.

Though his rush never got home, it was nevertheless enough to force the ball out of the quarterback’s hands on several occasions.

His run containment was consistently solid and physical. The result of all this positive play? One assist on the sheet.

Through five games, Thibodeaux has been quiet (six tackles), despite being blocked almost exclusively one-on-one. Something has to improve.

Trace Ford

Elevated from the practice squad for the second time this season, Ford handled himself well on the edges with a consistently physical presence.

He did well to maintain edge containment but never pushed past the pocket; he stayed in his lane and used his hands well.

Ford was also solid against the run, contributing with one solo tackle in his limited snaps. We expect a signing to the roster in the near future.

Inside Linebackers

Arvell Reese

Reese tied for the team lead with nine tackles (alongside Tremaine Edmunds), including his first NFL sack.

Though last week didn’t have any splash plays that caught the league’s attention, this week brought a handful of big hits that caught Washington’s attention.

Despite the positives, there were also negatives, including a close-up look at the speed of Jayden Daniels, who outran Reese from the pocket on several occasions.

Better positioning will help Reese in the future, as you can’t rely on athletic ability alone; he’s got to play smarter, including proper angling. Daniels really hurt the defense Sunday with 103 scramble yards and two touchdowns.

Reese was the victim on the majority of those scrambles, getting beaten even while spying him. It was too easy.

Tremaine Edmunds

Among this veteran’s nine tackles was the sack on the last play of the game when the Commanders allowed the clock to run out.

Give Edmunds credit for his smart positioning on this play with the clock ticking down, and for holding onto the quarterback’s legs after taking him to the ground.

Edmunds played another solid, disciplined game that may have lacked the flash plays and perhaps allowed some too-easy midfield completions to the tight ends, but between the tackles he was consistently sharp and alert. It’s rare to see this veteran caught out of position.

Micah McFadden

It was unusual to see McFadden on the field lining up to blitz on one edge. After a timeout, he then lined up on the opposite edge when a penalty was called.

McFadden then left the field and never got a defensive snap.

Cornerbacks

Greg Newsome II

Rarely targeted in coverage, Newsome was his typically aggressive self, attacking ball carriers and registering four solo tackles.

The Commanders stayed away from Newsome as much as they could.

Deonte Banks

Finishing the day with six tackles, Banks also had a pass defensed.

He allowed several key catches to Terry McLaurin in front of him; his tackling was soft, and his reactions to the ball entering his sphere were also extremely cautious.

For instance, on at least one of Daniels’ scrambles, Banks was very slow to get involved.

On Washington’s opening drive, on a 33-yard touchdown run, Banks backed away to avoid contact. It’s who he is: a non-physical football player, the polar opposite of Dru Phillips.

That said, Banks’ coverage ability will make him some money this offseason. His press coverage continues to shine, but his zone coverage doesn’t.

Dru Phillips

Two weeks ago against Tennessee, we were ready to enshrine Phillips into the Giants’ Hall of Fame, had he only held onto that interception near the goal line. We say that because of how physically (if not viciously) Phillips had played throughout (11 total tackles).

This week, Phillips was nearly as good. Only five tackles, you say? How about the two sacks, both hits that Jayden Daniels did not want to take.

After those sacks—plus two more hits from Phillips’ blitzes—Daniels was getting rid of the ball as fast as he could.

The defense once again went into blitz overload mode, as it did last week, and that changed the complexion of Sunday’s game. Phillips’ blitzing was the difference.

When he hits you, it hurts. He’s got that “dog” mentality that we talk about with Greg Newsome. Phillips is a “double dog.”

When he’s flying around attacking the line of scrimmage, playing a pseudo inside linebacker role, he’s tough to contain.

He gets one of our game balls Sunday, like he should have gotten two weeks ago. Phillips is a pure football player.

Safeties

Jevon Holland

For the second week in a row, Holland didn’t have any big splash plays but handled most of the deep coverage responsibilities while mixing things up near the line of scrimmage from time to time.

Holland recorded just two tackles this week (both in overtime, both important contain stops) and zero passes defensed since the Commanders stayed away from him.

This secondary continues to play solid overall ball, and Holland leads it.

Tyler Nubin

Nubin came right out of the chute with a big bullseye painted on his chest. On Washington’s first drive, the Commanders went right at Nubin with a backup tight end for a far-too-easy 23-yard completion.

On the very next snap, they ran at Nubin, who was slow to react to his fill. He was just as slow to react to a simple cut and run around him, as if he were standing still. Everyone knows that the safety has to make that tackle.

Nubin is just not athletic enough to be a starting safety in this league. He fell off a tackle to start last week’s game, and this time he couldn’t even get a finger on the running back.

He had one good deep coverage and one good solo tackle, but that was the extent of his positive contributions.

He left the game early in the fourth quarter with a neck injury and did not return.

Ar’Darius Washington

With Jason Pinnock inactive and Nubin injured, Ar’Darius Washington took over and made several quick, aggressive tackles that no other Giants safety could have made.

He plays like a shorter Dru Phillips, with lots of “dog.”

His fourth-quarter hit on a tight end in the flat stopped him dead in his tracks and helped force a punt that led to the Giants’ tying touchdown.

The Commanders never exploited Washington’s coverage liabilities when he was in there (lack of height), as the blitzing took the quarterback scrambling out of the equation and forced Daniels to become a pocket quarterback, which he’d probably prefer not to be.

Special Teams

Dominic Zvada

The Giants’ talented rookie placekicker faced some tough situations given the weather. He missed his first field goal attempt from 50 yards, then made one from 51.

He made a 57-yarder, then missed from 56. That’s four attempts from 50 yards or more in very challenging conditions. So much for these coaches coddling their rookies.

When Zvada missed from 46 in overtime, people were reacting like he’d coughed up a hairball.

No, it was just a young player fighting through some difficult spots while trying to justify his coach’s trust in him. That’s a lot of pressure. He needs to learn to respond and take the bull by the horns, but he also needs to stop being put into too many of these near-impossible situations in bad weather.

Another issue that might have affected Zvada was the pressure he was getting from the left edge of his formation. Theo Johnson was out there blocking that edge and did little to keep the pressure out of the rookie’s line of sight.

The coaches finally adjusted the alignment, which helped the rookie a bit, but not enough.

Jordan Stout

Given his moonballs of late, Stout’s two punts of 55 and 59 yards this week could almost be considered “pooch punts.”

All kidding aside, the first one was returned a mere two yards. The other was fair caught. Both punts pinned the Commanders inside their 20-yard line.

Isn’t it amazing how the punting standards have improved for this organization with the arrival of John Harbaugh and the dispatch of whoever was previously making the special teams decisions?

Ben Mann

The rookie continues to shine with accurate deep snaps and solid punt coverage.

Charlie Jones

The very good news about Jones is his reliability in tracking, catching, and holding onto the ball. Jones handled four punt returns smoothly in the difficult conditions, and for a bonus, he returned them for 52 yards.

Jones never seems to take an unnecessary hit—on his first two returns he couldn’t get out of bounds quickly enough —but he did return his last punt right up the gut, again doing what he could to avoid the big hit. Jones isn’t physical, which is fine at this position.

On kickoff returns, coaches might expect more of a physical presence, but again, Jones isn’t that type. He is simply reliable, which is more than half of the job.

Jones averaged a solid 26 yards per return on his five kickoff returns. He looks like he’s got good speed, but he’s not going to attack a seam, so who knows if he’ll break one. But if something is well-blocked, he’s got the speed to follow it. As long as he takes care of the ball, he’ll hang around for a long time.

Tyrone Tracy Jr.

We actually prefer Tracy over Jones on kickoff returns. Tracy has more of a physical personality and can follow blocking while in “gap attack mode,” not in “wince” mode.

His two returns this week averaged 27.5 yards. We would really like the coaches to scheme Tracy into more of these returns.

Zaire Barnes

The special teams season coverage leader came through with one kickoff return tackle plus the only punt coverage tackle of the day.

Barnes’ punt tackle was a scary hit and buried the Washington returner with his physical attack.

Nic Jones

Jones beat his blocker on Sunday’s opening punt but just missed nailing the returner in his tracks.

Elijah Campbell

This veteran continued to provide solid gunner play on his edge.

Dalen Cambre

Elevated from the practice squad for Sunday’s game, Cambre got in on one kickoff coverage tackle and just missed getting involved in a second.

Colton Hood

Leading the team with three special teams tackles, Hood suffered a concussion on the third hit and left the game.

Hood got all his action playing edge contain on the kickoff team and was not only really aggressive but also took good angles to force the returner into traffic. Overall, a smart job by the rookie.

Trace Ford

Elevated from the practice squad for the second week in a row, Ford contributed on special teams with another tackle.

Ar’Darius Washington

The uber-aggressive safety with a nose for the ball got in on a kickoff return tackle.

Theo Johnson

This big tight end’s physical frame comes in handy on kickoff returns, where physicality matters. Johnson recorded another kickoff tackle, continuing to find ways to contribute.

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