Abdul Carter put together the best game of his young career in Week 15. The No. 3 overall pick recorded seven total tackles (five solo), one sack, three tackles for loss, four total pressures, two forced fumbles and one fumble recovery as he wreaked havoc on the Commanders all game. He also performed well in the run game, according to Pro Football Focus, as he picked up a season-high five run stops. PFF not only named Carter their Rookie of the Week, but the analytics site also had the rookie as their highest ranked edge defender overall in Week 15.
“I thought it was a great performance,” defensive coordinator Charlie Bullen said. “Those are the types of games and plays that I think he’s capable of making. So, it was great to see, it kind of came together for him and he helped the team win in a big way and made some impactful plays and I was happy for him.”
Carter had one of the top performances we’ve seen from a Giants rookie defender in a long time. His two forced fumbles were the most in a game since Jason Pierre-Paul had two against the Jaguars back in 2010, while Carter’s three tackles for loss matched the franchise’s rookie record for the most in a game, tying Kayvon Thibodeaux and his three against the Commanders in 2022. The 22-year-old now has sacks in back-to-back games with 10 total pressures over that stretch.
Both Carter and Brian Burns will face difficult matchups this weekend. The Vikings boast one of the league’s top tackle duos in Christian Darrisaw and Brian O’Neill. Darrisaw has only one game in which he’s allowed a sack all season (he allowed two against the Packers in Week 12) while surrendering a total of 18 pressures in 10 games. Meanwhile, O’Neill has also given up just two sacks and 17 total pressures in 12 games.
Darius Muasau made his return to action this past weekend after an ankle injury suffered against the 49ers in Week 9 forced him to miss the next four games. In his first game back in over a month, Muasau hit the ground running. The second-year linebacker led the team with 11 total tackles (five solo) while playing 80.3 percent of the team’s defensive snaps and 34.5 percent of the special teams snaps. Muasau also added one pressure and three run stops, according to PFF.
The Vikings have not done a whole lot on the ground this season, but that’s not due to a lack of talent in the backfield. Veteran Aaron Jones has had double digit touches in seven consecutive games, five of which have led to him finishing with an average yards per carry of 4.4 or higher, including three games with an average above 5.0. During that same stretch, he also has five games with three or more receptions. Then there’s Jordan Mason, the more physical option in the run game, who has averaged more than 4.5 yards per carry in five of his last six outings, albeit on fewer touches. On the season, Mason is averaging 4.6 yards per carry, which surprisingly would set a new career-low for the fourth-year back, who has never averaged fewer than 5.2 yards per carry in his young career.