For the first time all season, Brian Burns was held without a sack for back-to-back games when he was unable to get to Drake Maye in Week 13. Despite not recording a sack, Burns was still able to total one tackle for loss, one quarterback hit and three pressures against the Patriots. Heading into Week 15, the veteran outside linebacker comes in at No. 2 on the NFL’s sack leaderboard with 13 on the season, although Cleveland’s Myles Garrett has widened his lead with 20 sacks.
Burns had just two total pressures in the Week 1 matchup against the Commanders, albeit both went for sacks. Similar to the season opener, Burns is likely to match up for most of the game against right tackle Josh Conerly Jr. The rookie is credited with six sacks and 35 total pressures allowed this season, although four of the sacks and 11 of the pressures came in the first two weeks of the season. Over his last 11 games, Conerly has played much better with just two sacks and 24 pressures allowed. According to Pro Football Focus, he has not been credited with a sack surrendered since Week 8. Additionally, in his nine games (six starts) this season, Marcus Mariota has not been sacked more than twice in any outing.
The last time the Giants took the field, Abdul Carter’s night produced mixed feelings. The rookie outside linebacker was benched for the first quarter of the Monday night matchup against the Patriots for a disciplinary matter that interim head coach Mike Kafka said was his decision. This was the second time in three games that Carter was not on the field with the rest of the defense to start the game.
But once he took the field, Carter put together perhaps the best game of his rookie season. The 22-year-old racked up six total pressures in the final three quarters, including the first full sack of his NFL career. It was the first time Carter got a sack since his half-sack in the season opener. The No. 3 overall pick now has nine total pressures and four quarterback hits over his last two games as he looks to keep his strong play going in the final month of the season. Heading into Week 15, Carter ranks ninth among all edge rushers in pass rush win rate at 18 percent, according to ESPN Analytics.
Kayvon Thibodeaux has yet to practice this week, which means Carter could be primarily lining up on the right edge against the Commanders. That means he’ll see a lot of Commanders left tackle Laremy Tunsil on Sunday. Tunsil surrendered a sack to the Giants in the season opener, and since then, the veteran tackle has allowed only one additional sack along with 14 total pressures. Tunsil is ranked as PFF’s No. 3 offensive tackle in pass protection this season and No. 8 tackle overall. The rookie outside linebacker will have his hands full going up against Tunsil.