Giants' Week 10 Defense Showing Filled with Missed Opportunities (Player Reviews)

It’s a mystery for the ages.

How is it that four times this season, this New York Giants defense was gifted a two-score lead only to blow it in the final minutes of regulation?

Is it the scheme? The effort? The coaching? Whatever it is, it’s killing this Giants team, who this week should have had a “W” against the Chicago Bears, which would have ended what’s now an 11-game losing streak on the road.

Alas, it was not the case, and here we are again, trying to find what went wrong this week. So let’s get into it.

Defensive Line

New York Giants defensive tackle Rakeem Nunez-Roches | Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images

⏹Dexter Lawrence

Anyone looking for why Lawrence doesn’t look like the player he was the last couple of years, look no further than his week’s snaps in which he was single-teamed.

Lawrence was blowing whomever was lined up in front of him, including the Bears’ best interior lineman, Joe Thuney. Lawrence actually had his first sack of the year taken away by a defensive holding penalty.

Lawrence somehow did not get his name onto the stat sheet despite pushing the pocket on numerous occasions while clogging the Bears' running game between the tackles all game long.

⏹Roy Robertson-Harris

The most productive interior presence this week along the defensive line, Robertson-Harris seemed particularly alert playing against his old team and finished with a very healthy total of 5 tackles.

That’s the kind of production that we expected out of this veteran all season long while Lawrence was attracting all the double teams.

Robertson-Harris’ game has picked up over the past two weeks, which likely harkens a return to health.

⏹Rakeem Nunez-Roches

This vet’s active string of games came to a quiet halt this week when he actually found his way to only one measly tackle, while having to leave the game midway through the third quarter with a toe injury that ended his day.

⏹D.J. Davidson

Davidson once again played stout defense over the ball, and though his name did not appear on the stat sheet, he was a physical presence and stayed on his feet.

⏹Darius Alexander

Getting more snaps late with Nunez-Roches unavailable, Alexander created a couple of pocket pressures against solo blocking and consistently shed his man.

Of his pressures, one in the fourth quarter nearly got home. That said, you can include Alexander among the many Giants pass rushers who could never quite corral the incredibly elusive Caleb Williams.

Alexander finished with one tackle, as he still needs to become more powerful at the point of attack.

Outside Linebackers

⏹Brian Burns

Burns was on his way to creating another big-time performance out there when he failed to wrap up on one of many near-sacks of the quarterback on the day and then over-committed on the Caleb Williams game-winning bootleg run around the contain that Burns failed to hold so miserably.

Somehow, Burns was still able to run down the speedy quarterback, but not before he scored the game-winner.

Early on, Burns was his typical all-over-the-place self. A penetration disrupted a wide receiver screen, resulting in a near-interception. He made a solo edge tackle against the run, then a big-time pressure/hit on the quarterback to force a deep incompletion.

Burns then made another great run game tackle, this one in pursuit. Then there was a great open-field tackle for a loss of 3 yards.

Overall, Burns again was the defense’s best player, finishing with five total tackles but, alas, a couple of big-time second-half misses when the game was on the line.

⏹Kayvon Thibodeaux

This week’s king of the missed quarterback sack, we counted at least three legit Thibodeaux sack opportunities that the elusive Williams was able to avoid.

Give Thibodeaux credit for still coming hard and attacking the pocket. He also made several hits against the run, including a key red zone run in which he beat his blocker to the punch and cut down the back, forcing a field goal.

Thibodeaux finished with three total tackles plus all the pressures that never got home.

⏹Abdul Carter

On passing downs, Carter mixed it up by playing some very passive contain on his edge, eschewing the pass rush for the contain, and then going hard around his edge and once again failing to draw a single holding call despite several holds.

He did register his first sack since Week 1 when he was credited with half a sack, but predictably, it was negated by a penalty by the defensive secondary.

Carter was as frustrated as anyone by the mobile quarterback, who received his most pressure of the entire season and yet did not absorb a single sack.

Incredibly, like Lawrence and several others, Carter’s name did not register once on this week’s stat sheet.

For all the disruptions this kid causes, he needs to go to school with the league's great finishers and learn how it’s done.

Inside Linebackers

⏹Bobby Okereke

Despite adding six more tackles to his season total – Okereke is near the top of the league in tackles – Okereke was a liability on too many plays to count.

He made a terrible over-commit on an off-tackle run that he was unable to stay with the cutback that went for 11 yards. In this league, that play has to be made by your inside linebacker.

Okereke did get the knockaway on a fourth-down scramble throw for a change of possession, but then he allowed Caleb Williams to run around his edge while he was on an alleged contain blitz.

Okereke just could not stay with the young stud after taking a poor angle, and the play went for 28 yards.

On Williams’ late touchdown run of 18 yards, Okereke never even got into the picture as he jogged after the play. Of the handful of solid reads and fills, Okereke wasn’t stout enough to really finish.

He also remains a liability in coverage, as his agility was just not up to snuff.

⏹Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles

Leading the defense in tackles with 7, the coaches gave this veteran special teamer plenty of opportunities to make plays. He was sent on a handful of blitzes, two of which were timed well and disrupted the pocket both times.

There was tight coverage and a knockaway early on to force a punt. Flannigan-Fowles did square up to make a fourth-down tackle with a sharp read, but he was overpowered by the Bears back while also being nudged away by some friendly fire from Cor’Dale Flott.

Flannigan-Fowles had to leave the game with a pec injury but returned to finish it.

He made several nice open-field tackles near the line of scrimmage, something we’re unaccustomed to seeing from this linebacker corps.

Then there was a great read and another open field finish for a loss of 4 yards. Known for his coverage abilities (due to his good speed), Flannigan-Fowles was able to answer a lot of the run defense bells when they came his way.

That’s two very productive weeks in a row for this active former safety, who is more of a run-and-hit backer than a thumper.

This defense could certainly use his speed. The Giants may have stumbled into a legit inside linebacker who will get a long look in the season’s remaining seven games to see if he can hold up under a heavier workload.

⏹Zaire Barnes

Getting a late first-half snap at inside linebacker, Barnes made a solid close and tackle of a short pass in front of him, setting up a 3rd-and-8.

The Bears could not convert, the Giants took over at their own 33-yard line, and the offense drove to a half-ending field goal and a 10-7 lead.

It was his lone snap on defense this week.

Defensive Backs

Nov 9, 2025; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Chicago Bears wide receiver Rome Odunze (15) makes a catch against New York Giants safety Jevon Holland (8) during the first half at Soldier Field. | Mike Dinovo-Imagn Images

⏹Deonte Banks

It didn’t take the Bears long to find Banks, who was the target of the Bears' first two drop-backs, both passes easily completed in front of the soft-covering Banks.

This is a good way for any offense to find an early rhythm: just go after Banks, who will open the door and lead the way in.

The Bears gave Banks a break until the third quarter, when an illegal contact penalty negated a Giants sack. Several snaps later, he committed a 19-yard pass interference penalty when, despite good coverage, he couldn’t help himself from contacting the receiver.

And let’s not forget Chicago’s criminally wide-open 2-yard touchdown completion in the middle of the end zone, where Banks simply decided not to cover his man and play zone when the rest of the secondary was playing man.

It was the kind of mental breakdown that simply isn't allowed on good teams and earns a player the nickname “coach-killer.”

Though Banks once again did not attack any plays on his edge, he finally figured out how to stay outside and contain. Earlier, he even got in on a couple of tackles with solid positioning.

It’s these glimpses of solid play – he finished with five total tackles and played every snap – that keep coaches running Banks out there.

He’s so physically talented, more so than any other corner on the squad, that all you can do is keep hoping and praying that he grows into something reliable.

⏹Cor’Dale Flott

Returning after missing last week with a concussion, Flott did not have one of his best games.

He dropped a deflected ball early on that should have been an interception, while a defensive hold in coverage negated another Giants sack.

His missed tackle on a fourth-down play that allowed a first down hurt.

Flott did not give up much out there in coverage, however. He finished with two total tackles as his return really helped keep things in check in the team’s fragile secondary.

⏹Dru Phillips

We were surprised that the coaches were limiting Phillips’ snaps, as his instinctive play and toughness are hard to find in this group.

His third-quarter tight coverage forced an incompletion and a punt. Phillips’ great open field tackle on a second quarter, third down forced a fourth down.

Phillips finished with four total tackles in his limited snaps out of the slot.

⏹Korie Black

Moved back down to CB3 with Flott’s return, Black also received limited snaps, which is more in line with where he is in his development.

He gave up one big completion at the first half 2-minute warning with too-soft coverage, but seemed to be where he was supposed to be whenever the ball came his way. He contributed with two tackles.

⏹Jevon Holland

The return of this veteran to the field was a breath of fresh air, giving the secondary a calm head and a positional playmaker.

Holland contributed with six total tackles plus a knockaway in coverage. He defended the end zone against the deep ball well, and he closed against the run smartly, never losing his angles.

His tackling was also solid.

⏹Tyler Nubin

Though Nubin made a nice play early on to track down a wide run and react well to a cutback for minimal yardage, and reacted well to several other plays in front of him, what he was doing on Caleb Williams’ 18-yard game-winning touchdown run is a mystery.

On the play, Nubin was in coverage trailing an open tight end, but when it became apparent that Williams was in run mode, Nubin had the chance to close down and make the play.

Instead, Nubin turned his back on Williams and allowed the tight end the perfect angle to block Nubin out of the play into the end zone, where he watched the touchdown being scored.

An NFL safety has to know when to adjust to the flow of the play. Nubin does not seem capable of making any instinctive adjustment.

He’s very much a straight-line kind of defender who lacks the speed and agility to make the right reactions. He needs to be football smart and fundamentally sound to get into position to make plays. Right now, he’s not doing either consistently enough.

⏹Dane Belton

With Holland’s return to the field, Belton was shunted back to his part-time role, which, to these eyes, does not make much sense.

We’d much rather have Belton out there full-time handling all the fits and getting people lined up, and limit Nubin to that type of part-time role with specific duties and limited responsibilities.

Belton worked himself into two tackles on the defense and tried to ignore Banks in the end zone after Banks double-teamed Belton’s man while Banks’ man ran free for the easy touchdown.

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