Giants Defense Week 12 Review: Another Week, Another Letdown

Dexter Lawrence

Though the double teams are still coming, Lawrence got a handful of single teams on passing downs–and did ever he collapsed the pocket.  

We’re not sure why teams bother with the singles, as he’s still very capable of walking anybody back to the quarterback. Still, the few times that he blew things up, the ball just keeps coming out of the quarterback’s hand so quickly that the mere concept of a coverage sack on this defense doesn’t seem real.  

Thanks to Lawrence's double teams, rookie Darius Alexander recorded two sacks against solo blocking.  

Also, give credit to Lawrence when he’s not on the field.  Guess who was absent on both long touchdown runs right up the gut?  That’s right, Lawrence was on the sideline for both of them.  

It's an ongoing problem with this defense: every time Lawrence is not on the field, the offense goes right after his spot.  It’s a working strategy that continues to work.  

On the stat sheet, Lawrence recorded a single tackle and a single hit on the quarterback.  That’s just not enough.

Roy Robertson-Harris

Lawrence got very little help from his veteran cohort, who did not come to compete in the pit.  On both long Lions touchdown runs, Robertson-Harris was handled easily by solo-blocking.  

It wasn’t all on this veteran, of course, as the coordination among all three levels of this defense is nonexistent.  

There is no team defense with this group; it’s like eleven single heads going this way and that on each play.  

Besides the dearth of talent at each level, the lack of coordination is just as bad.  Today was one of Robertson-Harris’s lesser efforts in a season where much more was expected out of him.  

He didn’t get a single whiff of the stat sheet.

Darius Alexander 

The recipient of all the Dexter Lawrence double-teams once again, the Giants finally found a D-lineman to exploit the singles afforded to one playing alongside Lawrence.  

What we liked about both of Alexander’s sacks was the fact that he wasn’t running around his man–he was running through him using those long, strong arms of his, a natural power base, and just enough of an upfield burst to take away space while collapsing the pocket to finish both big plays.  

Alexander hung in there against the double teams, but we liked seeing him run hard to the ball in pursuit many times.  

He finished with four total tackles and showed a little bit of the power pit presence and urgency that’s needed alongside Lawrence.

D.J. Davidson 

Getting bounced around and dominated inside for the second week in a row, Davidson was a laughable non-factor on the Lions’ overtime touchdown run.  He looked unusually slow this week and finished with a single assist on the sheet.

Rakeem Nunez-Roches

After last week’s very quiet effort, Nunez-Roches recorded his third sack of the season with a quick swim move that completely befuddled the Lions’ backup left guard. This is a career season-high sack total for the veteran.  

He worked his way into another tackle, but he was also nowhere to be found on the Lions’ first long touchdown run of the game, and was regularly bounced around inside and handled by solo blocking.

Outside Linebackers

Brian Burns 

This was Burns’s least impactful game of the year.  Early on, he blew a clean sack after a quick read-and-react against play action got him right in the quarterback’s face. 

The good news is that the panic Burns’ rush created led to an intentional grounding.  The bad news is that the Lions scored on the subsequent 3rd-and-long on a receiver screen to Burns’ side that he failed to disrupt in any way.  

Burns was exploited numerous times along his edge by a simple receiver block, pinning him inside and away from the action.  None of his pass rushes got home.  He finished the game with two measly assists.

Abdul Carter

Continuing his quiet but mostly effective play, the rookie led the defense with three quarterback hits and had several more pressures.  He also made a handful of plays against the run, but none were impactful.  

Carter continues to be a liability on the edge, as misdirection continues to exploit his overaggressiveness.  He’s reacting to everything that moves out there and isn't seeing the forest for the trees.  

He did finish with four tackles, but his pass-rush game remains one-dimensional.  He hasn’t yet figured out when to use his speed and when to read. He remains a bit lost in no-man’s land on the field.

Chauncey Golston

Getting his dozen or so snaps today on the edge, Golston contributed with two tackles as he handled anything that came to his edge stoutly.  Two solo tackles in limited snaps is pretty good production.  Golston’s pass rushes got him upfield in contain, but they did not threaten the pocket.

Inside Linebackers 

Bobby Okereke

There were a half dozen times in this game where we thought, ‘Okereke’s gotta make that play, Okereke’s gotta do something.’ Like the rest of his mates, Okereke seems lost in this defense that just doesn’t seem to know what it’s doing out there.  

Okereke did record eight tackles because somebody’s gotta tackle the other guy.  There were a couple of decent fills and a nice hit along the sideline, but there were also a couple of coverages that beat him too easily.  

There were the two long touchdown runs right up the gut where he was nowhere to be found.  

There was the wide receiver screen touchdown that Okereke had a chance to blow up, but he was too cautious and slow, and the lack of physicality was obvious once again.

Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles

Getting another start at inside linebacker, Flannigan-Fowles was throwing his body around, but he was taking more than he was giving, and eventually had to leave the game with a neck injury.  

The veteran finished with three tackles plus a handful of misses.

Zaire Barnes 

The next man up in the devastated inside linebacker corps, Barnes (primarily a special teams ace) got the nod when Flannigan-Fowles went down, and he had some positive moments, including successfully covering running back Jahmyr Gibbs in space to force a rare incompletion.  

Barnes also made a handful of bad reads, choosing the wrong gap to fill, which left too much space and was likely the reason he ended up back on the sideline.  He finished with four total tackles, including a nice wide read for a tackle in the backfield.  

We liked most of what we saw physically out of Barnes.  The mental challenges of being in the right place at the right angle at the right time, all the time, need to be addressed.

Swayze Bozeman

Elevated to the roster from the practice squad for today’s game, Bozeman got a lot of playing time at inside linebacker, especially in the second half.  

Alas, he was on the field for both of Detroit’s long touchdown runs between the tackles and looked overmatched.  

He finished with one assist in his second half and overtime playing time. Still, the depth chart at inside linebacker is reaching desperate levels when the practice squad elevation is getting this much attention.

Defensive Backs

Cor’Dale Flott

The defense had two skill position players to worry about: receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown and running back Jahmyr Gibbs, both of whom dominated the Giants today.  

Flott was solo’d on the wideout opposite St. Brown most of the day, shutting out WR Jameson Williams while leaving it up to the rest of his weary secondary cohorts to watch St. Brown.  They could not.  

Flott had a solid game in coverage per usual and recorded two tackles, but he was also part of the missed-tackle brigade that could not tackle Gibbs.

Dru Phillips

Responsible for two tackles in the backfield and several solo tackles on Gibbs in space, it’s too bad that the coaches couldn’t let Phillips follow Gibbs around the field since nobody else could stay with the fast running back.  

Phillips finished with five total tackles and didn’t seem to blow any coverages.  The coaches lined him up at times as a third linebacker since he’s one of the few defensive players who can make the proper reads and fills against the run.  

Alas, Phillips’ slight build limits him to the slot.  His game is tailor-made for safety, but we seriously doubt he could hold up there. 

Korie Black

The more we see Black play, the more we realize that he’s got a bit of that old Deonte Banks disease:  a severe aversion to contact.  

Black refuses to tackle with his hands.  He’s all duck and shoulder, that is, when he's not running for cover.  

And yet, somehow Black got credit for six tackles today while giving up so much space in front of him that he sometimes seems like he’s playing in another zip code.  

You never know with a young player, but this kid may be the least physical football player we’ve seen suit up in an NFL uniform, and we’ve seen a ton of them watching this team over the years.

Nic Jones 

Jones has built himself up into an NFL-sized corner-slash-gunner, but his lack of speed will surely limit him in the corner role.  

This week, he got a smattering of playing time – to these eyes, he should have gotten more simply because of his size – but he came up short late in the first half when he didn’t play the situation correctly, allowing a speed receiver to run right by him up the seam while over-protecting the short down-and-out with the Lions out of timeouts.  

He gave up a chunk play much too easily.  Jones did manage two tackles on the stat sheet.  He’s not afraid to hit somebody, and he seems to play an alert game, which is why we were surprised that he allowed that chunk play.

Jevon Holland 

Playing every snap and finally getting the benefit of a deflected pass, Holland came up with his first turnover as a Giant.  It was the defense’s lone (and rare) turnover on the day.  

Holland also contributed with four tackles, but he was a member of the missed-tackle brigade on the first Gibbs long touchdown run.  

On the overtime Gibbs touchdown, Holland was positioned on the edge and seemed to be blitzing while Gibbs went untouched 69 yards to the end zone.  

It’s tough to critique these defensive players when the now former defensive coordinator can’t seem to coach this unit up. 

Dane Belton

Getting all the defensive snaps also at safety, Belton missed a handful of tackles while also leading the defense in tackles with 9.  

We like the fact that Belton sees things out there and is always around the ball, but the lack of suddenness, foot speed, and athleticism makes one pause in projecting him as a starter in this league.  

With better coaching and talent around him, Belton might be a fit on a good defense. Still, he’s hardly a difference-maker, especially in coverage, where he committed another pass interference penalty today in the red zone when he couldn’t stay with a receiver. 

Special Teams

Younghoe Koo

This veteran pickup has done everything expected of him with the Giants, which means he’s hitting all the makeable kicks – good from 21 and 44 yards, plus three extra points – while also handling the pooch kickoffs and throwing in the bonus of covering them (1 solo tackle and on another kickoff he was around the ball, showing no fear).  

Koo handles himself like a football player, not a kicker. 

Jamie Gillan

Gillan’s punting continues to fade away into the ether.  

His first punt went out of bounds.  His second was so short it had to be downed on the bounce.  His third one was fair caught.  

We’re not sure what’s going on with Gillan–maybe it’s an injury–but he was punting in pristine dome conditions, and it was like he was punting in Green Bay in December.  

The Giants need to get themselves an NFL-quality punter.  Last year, when Gillan missed four games with injury, the punters the team brought in were solid and much cheaper than Gillan.  

Oddly enough, he has three more years left on his contract.  Will the Giants continue to run him out there when the team is being dominated in the punting game by the opposing punter seemingly every week?

Casey Kreiter

Can this veteran deep snapper get any more consistent?

Gunner Olszewski 

Olszewski was forced into fair catching 3 of this week’s punts.  He returned one punt for 4 yards, but a holding penalty negated the yardage. 

He also returned three kickoffs to the 32, 30, and 31-yard lines.  He remains as reliable and solid as the deep snapper.

Eric Gray

Finally suiting up after missing the entire season to date with a knee injury, Gray’s first taste of NFL combat came playing the one position he seems least suited for – kickoff returner. 

Gray was pretty much a disaster in his previous attempts at filling this position, and he wasn’t much better this week.  

Gray muffed his first return chance, picked it up, and got it out to the Giants’ 18-yard line.  Ouch!  

In overtime, the Lions kicked to Gray, who was able to return this one to the 30-yard line, a much better result.  

On Gunner Olszewski’s three kickoff returns, Gray did well to choose whom to block and executed them adequately.

Rico Payton

One of the team’s starting gunners and kickoff contain edge defenders, Payton got in on two kickoff tackles, one at the point of attack and one in pursuit, where he showed a good open field burst.

Nic Jones

Still starting at gunner and kickoff contain, Jones did not find the ball.

Chauncey Golston

Contributing with two kickoff coverage tackles, one of which was a heavy open field hit, Golston showed that he’s not afraid to get physical out there.

Zaire Barnes

Besides his productive time at inside linebacker, Barnes got in on the special teams action with one tackle.  He also committed a holding penalty on a punt return.

Swayze Bozeman

Elevated from the practice squad, Bozeman at least proved his special teams chops with two kickoff coverage tackles.