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New York Giants linebacker Brian Burns (0) rushes past the offensive line during a game between the New York Giants and the Washington Commanders at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford on Sunday, Nov. 3, 2024. Julian Leshay Guadalupe/NorthJersey.com / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Top Matchup to Watch in Giants-Commanders

Originally posted on New York Giants on SI
By Stephen Lebitsch | Last updated Sep 5, 2025 5:30 PM ET

The New York Giants are looking for a fast start to their 2025 regular season opener against the Washington Commanders.

If there is one matchup that could help set the tone, it’s the one-on-one matchups that are bound to ensue between Giants outside linebacker Brian Burns and Commanders’ left tackle Laremy Tunsil.

Burns, arguably the Giants' biggest offseason acquisition back in the spring of 2024, figures to be the lead member of the team’s newly revamped edge rushing presence this fall, alongside fellow incumbent Kayvon Thibodeaux, Chauncey Golston, and rookie Abdul Carter, who everyone is excited to see bring a new element to the group.

Meanwhile, Tunsil, a five-time Pro Bowler, joined the Commanders in an offseason trade with the Houston Texans. This move was necessary for Washington to strengthen their offensive line, which had been severely shaken up in the pass blocking realm last season.

Per ESPN analytics, the Commanders' offensive line finished in the top 10 teams in the league in pass-block win rate in 2024, holding a 66% efficiency rate that grew as high as 74% in the run blocking effort.

The bookends were surprisingly their biggest weakness, though, rotating through four different players amidst injuries, all playing at least 192 pass blocking snaps, but only one of them, former tackle Cornelius Lucas, graded above 70.0, with one sack allowed in that category.

Snatching Tunsil from Houston comes with the hopes of offering quarterback Jayden Daniels some elite and reliable blindside protection on the left side that he enjoyed last season as he took the Commanders back to the postseason as an unproven novice.

As far as pass protection goes, it’s hard to find many offensive linemen who have done it better than the veteran Tunsil has throughout his nine years in the NFL.

He finished as the fifth-highest graded lineman in the league in that area (88.6) last season and allowed just two sacks and 19 total pressures for the best among players with at least 1,000 blocking snaps.

Geoff Burke-Imagn Images

Over his total career. Tunsil has only allowed 5+ more sacks twice (2017,2023) and over 23 pressures just three times, while grading over 85.4 as a pass blocker in each of the last three seasons, where he saw at least 857 snaps.

He is truly one of the game’s toughest individual matchups for opposing edge rushers to get the best of.

That doesn’t mean he is without weaknesses, however, and the most glaring of them all is his inclination to draw penalties, often when he gets frustrated by the play on the field. Tunsil has drawn a whopping 29 penalties since the start of the 2023 season and held a career-high 19 last season.

As much as he can be a huge help for a young quarterback, he can also be a huge detriment if the opposition gets the best of him in the four quarters of play, and that is precisely what could make the one-on-one duels with Burns so interesting in the season opener.

Burns, who finished second on the Giants with 8.5 sacks and 61 total pressures, is one of the craftiest outside linebackers in the league.

Like many of the other pass rushers on the team, he can get past a lot of different linemen with a bevy of creative swim moves and speed that can frustrate those who can’t find ways to stop him.

While he is bound to unleash those traits again on Sunday, it’ll be intriguing to see how many times he can get past Tunsil and get pressure on the backside of Daniels, or even draw those favorable penalties to push Washington back and really give the green light for a full-blown attack on late downs.

The two will likely be on an island often, especially when the rest of the Commanders’ front will likely have their hands full worrying about the other three pieces, Dexter Lawrence, Thibodeaux, and Carter, trying to wreak havoc through different exotic looks and blitzes.

Taking advantage of the diversity and renewed energy of the defensive front has been something many folks have been discussing all summer with the Giants’ unit.

Sunday’s game should be the first chance to see that unfold, with Burns likely being the first player to open up the sacks party if he gets the right looks against Tunsil and the Commanders.

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This article first appeared on New York Giants on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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