Giants Defense and Special Teams Grades: Run D Steps Up, Holland Seals Another Win

The New York Giants' pass rush might not have found its footing yet, but the run defense, a big problem in the past, came to play on a day when the running game was going to be the prime attraction for both teams given the weather.

The Giants held the Titans to just 81 yards on the ground (21 carries), averaging 3.9 yards per carry. That's two out of three games in which the Giants' run defense held the opponent to under 100 yards, a nice step forward that the unit can hopefully keep going.

Special teams? What can be said that hasn't already been said? The Giants rank ninth in opponents' average starting field position after a punt (-20.8) thanks to Jordan Stout's big leg.

And New York is seventh in starting field position off a kickoff (31.9). What a difference a year has made for special teams!

Let's dive into this week's defensive and special teams grades.

Defensive Line

D.J. Reader

Leading the league in double teams (a Reader specialty), this veteran continued to absorb them this week and still found time to make the occasional flash into the backfield, as he did this week on a short Titans pass.

Reader seemed to be in the middle of every running play, though he finished with just the one tackle.

The team's run defense hasn't been a problem through three games (81 rush yards this week), and we're pretty sure Reader is one of the reasons.

C.J. Okoye

Getting some rotation snaps at the nose, Okoye did well to react to a Titans screen pass and helped break it up. He was also quite feisty after the snap on a running play, mixing it up with the opposition while showing some of the fire that this defensive front needs.

Still, Okoye was once again slow off the snap, too quick to stand up and look into the backfield, and then unable to shed. The huge mass that he carries does come in handy at times.

If he can contribute by playing the screen pass every time he's on the field, he's bound to run into one every week, and that's not bad.

Shelby Harris

The veteran DE lined up alongside Reader as the starters and produced several decent pass rushes against solo blocking.

On one of these, he redirected the scrambling Titans quarterback and grabbed a load of facemask. It was a solid fourth-quarter pass rush but a bad fourth-quarter facemask.

Harris handled his solo blocking all game long, playing off his man and making several run-game tackles. The run defense was solid even though it sprang several leaks in the second half.

Darius Alexander

Partnering with Okoye as second-team linemates, Alexander was handled easily by the double teams, but the good news was that he stayed on his feet and redirected himself back toward the action.

His pass rush was negligible. He jumped right in when Okoye was getting post-play feisty and showed some emotion out there, at least.

Chauncey Golston

Playing various roles, Golston's best play was holding his contain on an attempted bounce-out from a Titans running back. Golston recorded the tackle himself for no gain.

He was right in the middle of a bunch of other runs, often lining up alongside the Okoye-Alexander pairing to help handle the running-down stuff.

Golston's pass rushes never got home, but his instincts in following the flow of the play got him into numerous piles. He finished with two solo tackles.

Outside Linebackers

Brian Burns

Showing his great leadership and toughness by shrugging off a bad ankle sprain that he suffered at the end of last week's game, Burns gutted it out and suited up, contributing one big pass rush off an inside stunt that just missed sacking Cam Ward.

The pass rush forced a key throwaway and could have been intentional grounding.

Burns wasn't around the ball much this week, as he played a read-and-contain game while dealing with the ankle issue.

Late in the game, he came down with a torn ACL, ending his season; his only stat-sheet item for the week was quarterback pressure.

Abdul Carter

After two positive games to start the season, Carter did not show up on the stat sheet, nor did he show up enough to these eyes, the second-year player playing an inordinately quiet game.

None of Carter's pass rushes threatened the pocket, as, like Burns, Carter seemed to be playing a contain game to best defend the mobile quarterback.

We were most disappointed with a Carter fourth-quarter pass rush late on third-and-long, when a big rush was really needed; Carter looped way upfield and took himself completely out of the play. It would have been better to stop his rush, peel back, and close down on the pocket.

There wasn't a single flash play from Carter all day, as he seemed content to play his edge contain and keep the running game between the tackles, a strategy that did, in fact, work throughout the shutout the defense threw in the first half.

In the second half, the Titans went to a short passing game, which further frustrated Carter, as the ball was coming out of the QB's hand very fast.

The threat of Carter's pass rush likely influenced the Titans to steer their game plan away from Carter's strengths, which helped the Giants handle the run better but took away Carter's big playmaking. Even when he's not making plays, he's affecting the game.

Kayvon Thibodeaux

The Titans' strategy to limit Carter also limited Burns and Thibodeaux. We didn't spot a single crash-down from the edges by the defense's outside linebackers.

Thibodeaux was especially quiet on his edge and got nowhere when he lined up inside on passing downs.

He was too easily handled, producing a single edge contain when he followed up Burns' big fourth-quarter pass rush with a good close to force the throwaway.

He finished with one lonely assist.

Inside Linebackers

Tremaine Edmunds

We thought Edmunds put together a solid game, making plays with good reads and finishes between the tackles against the run, while also taking good drops in coverage.

He had a pass hit him right in his hands on one of these drops, a play that has to be made.

Edmunds' work against the run was most impactful this week. He finished the day with 10 total tackles and got in the quarterback's face on a fourth-and-goal that fell incomplete.

It was mostly positive for Edmunds, which makes his encroachment penalty with 0:50 left on fourth-and-1 unforgivable.

Arvell Reese

The rookie had a quietly impactful game, his physicality really showing up at points where the defense seemed to soften.

Reese was there to finish the tackles that were gaining headway, his physical finishes stamping his impact on the game from sideline to sideline.

His team-leading 12 total tackles included a pass defensed in the red zone in the middle of the field against a slot receiver; Reese blanketed the receiver.

We also liked how quickly he reacted to checkdowns and throws in his zone, getting in on several of those big finishes.

He lined up on the edge on a half-dozen snaps, and though none of his blitzes got home, he did run over a running back in a way that didn't seem fair.

Reese played faster and smarter this week and was one of the team's top five players.

Defensive Backs

Greg Newsome II

Having a very good game in every aspect, Newsome was excellent in coverage this week while also sticking his nose into numerous piles, something that most of his mates at corner don't particularly like to do.

He finished with three tackles plus two passes defensed, but it's his play-to-play intensity that continues to catch our eye.

Newsome has some of that "dog mentality" all good football teams need.

Colton Hood

Getting another start with Deonte Banks inactive, Hood consistently gave up much too much space in coverage, something the Titans didn't seem to discover until the second half, when they attacked him hard and with lots of success.

Hood is currently over-playing the deep ball while allowing everything and anything to be completed in front of him.

His too-soft coverage on the Wan'Dale Robinson 4-yard touchdown pass was worrisome, because everyone knew what Robinson was going to do — except Hood. It wasn't a difficult cover, but he still reacted as if he had never seen this route before.

Hood may be a rookie, but losing the mental game like that shouldn't happen.

Dru Phillips

This week's game was a Phillips-type game. No deep routes to worry about, tons of short throws, and lots of running plays to attack.

Like Newsome, Phillips has that "dog mentality," and it showed up repeatedly in his fearless attacks at the line of scrimmage to make hard, low tackles.

Phillips finished with an impressive 11 total tackles, and if not for the pass he dropped near the goal line, he would have been the defensive player of the game. On the drop, Phillips defended a pick play perfectly and had the ball right in his hands, but he dropped the "sure" interception.

Nic Jones

Jones came on to sub for a cramping Hood a couple of times and didn't hurt his team.

Ar'Darius Washington

Getting some early snaps at safety, Washington aggressively went for a pass he missed and gave up Tennessee's longest play of the first half: 16 yards.

Washington played the game aggressively and did get in on one tackle, but when the Titans went to their passing game in the second half, Washington found himself on the sideline while the defense played contain.

Jevon Holland

Turning in the biggest play of the game for the third week in a row, Holland capped another very positive overall game by intercepting Cam Ward's pass from the 7-yard line, in the end zone, with 0:24 left on the clock, to seal the win for his team.

Earlier in the game, Holland excelled in coverage, knocking away two passes, being in the right place at the right time, and playing a sharp overall game.

Through three games, his big plays (three interceptions, two forced fumbles, one fumble recovery) are setting Holland apart from the rest of the league.

He's seeing things well and reacting to them, and is now making offensive coordinators worry about where he is on the field.

His coverage game has been on point, but his run defense can't be dismissed either (three more tackles this week).

Holland is really doing it all right now.

Jason Pinnock

With Tyler Nubin out this week, Pinnock played a sharp, controlled deep game that included several scrimmage attacks and resulted in three total tackles, including one in the backfield.

Pinnock's coverage impressed us most. He was particularly sharp in the end zone, where the defense frustrated the Titans' renowned red-zone success, with Pinnock playing it smart and alert in his middle coverages.

The Titans never really attacked Pinnock, who really held his own in all those coverages as well as throwing his body around against the run to positive effect.

Special Teams

Dominic Zvada

The Giants' impressive rookie placekicker was important on all four of his short field-goal attempts (39, 27, 39, 30) and solid on his kickoffs.

Though he gifted the Titans two kicks into the end zone, giving them field position at the 35-yard line, we wonder if the coaches wanted to keep the ball out of the hands of the dynamic Titans returner.

Of the two Zvada kickoffs that were returnable, the first was fumbled and recovered by the Giants, while his other attempt, a good directional kick, was returned only to the 25-yard line. That's a lot of good things that happened when Zvada touched the ball this week.

The Giants' special teams had a hand in winning this week's game for sure, as they continue to do everything right and very little wrong, this rookie included.

Jordan Stout

Another big reason for this week's "ugly" win was this punter's ability to flip the field every time he was needed. His first punt was a pooch punt of 27 yards, downed at the 11-yard line.

His second punt, perhaps his only average punt on the day, was a 43-yarder with a 1-yard return. His third punt, a 73-yard boomer, flipped the field from the Giants' 18 to the Titans' 10 (throw in a Titans hold to negate any return yardage).

A 54-yard punt yielded a 14-yard return, Stout's worst result of the game.

Stout responded with a fourth-quarter, 64-yard bomb that flipped the field from the Giants' 15 to the Titans' 7 (throw in another Titans hold).

His final punt, a 38-yard pooch, was fair-caught at the 8-yard line. And his final numbers? Six punts, 50.5 gross average, 44.2 net average, with not a negative punt in the bunch.

What was even more impressive, at least to these eyes, was the isolation camera on Stout as he covered his 73-yard punt, sprinting downfield to help with coverage and even throwing an elbow at a Titans linebacker to boot. This dude's not only a great punter, but he's a legit football player.

Ben Mann

Contributing to the all-around look of this kicking unit, rookie Mann executed a pretty open-field tackle on Stout's punt.

This is in addition to deep-snapping very well all game long.

Braxton Berrios

Another solid contributor to this week's positive special teams performance was the decision-making and ball security that this veteran put on display all game long.

Berrios made every right decision, letting uncatchable punts bounce, securing two short punts and squeezing every yard out of them (12 yards), and returning two kickoffs under control with good vision to the 30- and 27-yard lines.

All of it done stress-free and mistake-free.

Zaire Barnes

What should have been one of the game's biggest plays was Barnes punching out the ball on the opening kickoff for the turnover.

Alas, the offense sputtered and punted, leaving Barnes' big play to be forgotten. Barnes also got an assist on the play.

Elijah Campbell

The team's best gunner made a tackle as a gunner, drew a holding call as a gunner, and committed a dumb penalty as a gunner, committing fair-catch interference on a pooch punt that was fair-caught at the 8-yard line.

Campbell was overzealous on this snap, as it came with 3:12 left on the clock and handed the Titans a cheap 15 yards at the worst possible time.

Malik Harrison

This ever-alert veteran, elevated from the practice squad for the third time this year, recovered the opening kickoff fumble.

Arvell Reese

This talented rookie made a great open-field tackle on the second-quarter 73-yard punt.

Micah McFadden

McFadden was the primary tackler on the opening kickoff fumble that Barnes finished for the turnover.

Nikko Reed

Reed got credit for running the kickoff returner out of bounds in the second half.

Tyrone Tracy

Tracy ran the punt returner out of bounds on Stout's 54-yard punt.

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