The New York Giants offense has been lackluster to say the least, and injuries haven’t made it any easier.
Now, they face a Patriots defense that has been one of the best in the NFL despite injuries and could have players return this week.
Personnel
This Patriots pass-rush is led by the duo of K’Lavon Chaisson and Harold Landry III, who have a combined 88 pressures between the two of them.
Chaisson has more pressures than Landry this year and has been a more effective overall pass-rusher, but Landry is the more complete defender of the two.
Landry is used as a run defender, pass-rusher, and in coverage. He has been one of the most active edge defenders in the NFL this season in terms of snaps played.
On the interior of this defensive line is Christian Barmore leading the way, with Corey Durden and Jeremiah Pharms rotating in as well beside him.
Injuries have piled up on the interior with Milton Williams on injured reserve and Khyiris Tonga getting injured against the Bengals this past week, leaving his status up in the air.
The Patriots have struggled to get consistent play from the interior, which, considering the volume of injuries they’ve had, is not surprising.
Oct 26, 2025; Foxborough, Massachusetts, USA; New England Patriots linebacker Robert Spillane (14) returns and interception during the third quarter against the Cleveland Browns at Gillette Stadium. | Brian Fluharty-Imagn Images
Robert Spillane and Christian Ellis will see most of the snaps from the off-ball linebacker spot, with Jack Gibbens potentially seeing significant snaps.
Spillane has been one of the more consistent defenders on this team and is the best run defender, whereas Ellis has struggled for most of the season.
Gibbens has seen inconsistent playing time this season, usually dictated by what the opponent is trying to do offensively, and he will play more against pass-happy offenses.
On the perimeter, the Patriots have Christian Gonzalez and Carlton Davis III as they’re starting outside cornerbacks.
Gonzalez has quickly earned a reputation as one of the best corners in the NFL, although he’s had more struggles this year than in the past.
Marcus Jones plays in the nickel and has been a boom-or-bust player this year, recording three interceptions but allowing five touchdowns on the year.
Craig Woodson and Jaylinn Hawkins have been the iron men of this defense, with the first and fourth most snaps played, respectively.
Woodson has operated all over the defensive formation, while Hawkins has operated as more of a deep safety than anything else in this primarily single-high safety defense.
Scheme
The Patriots have been one of the more single-high-reliant defenses in the NFL this year, similar to the Giants.
When the Patriots play man coverage, they will lean on Cover 1 — underneath man across the board, with a single-high safety and an underneath defender who is usually either blitzing or playing zone coverage.
The Patriots lean on Cover 3 more than the Giants do, while playing Cover 1 less.
If the Patriots decide to play two-high safeties, they will play either Cover 2 or Cover 4, whereas the Giants play significantly more Cover 4.
This is one of the more conservative defenses in the NFL when it comes to blitzing, which the Patriots do just 23% of the time on past defense snaps, ninth-fewest in the NFL.
When they do blitz, it will almost always be from the linebacker spot, with Spillane being the most effective blitzer of the group.
Instead of blitzing, the Patriots like to run stunts – where one rusher will go directly into an offensive lineman to occupy them, and another rusher loops around them, causing confusion on the offensive line and creating free rush lanes.
Having athletic defensive linemen like the Patriots do allows them to run stunts consistently, creating straight-line rush paths.
Overview
This is a stout Patriots defense that ranks eighth in the NFL in yards allowed and sixth in points allowed per game.
While the Patriots are just average defending the pass this season, they’ve been dominant against the run, ranking second in fewest rush yards allowed per game.
It seems as though nothing has come easy for this Giants offense in 2025, and that likely won’t change this week.
The Giants’ rushing attack will need to grit-and-grind their way up and down the field, while receivers will likely have a hard time creating separation against the secondary.
The quarterback run game could be an option to try to displace this Patriots defense. Using pre-snap motion could also help create areas for the offense to attack.
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