Giants Have the NFL's Lowest Pressure Rate, and Brian Burns Had 5 of Their 11 Pressures
Burns, placed on injured reserve Tuesday, had five of the Giants' 11 pressures through three games. No defensive lineman has one, and outside linebackers Abdul Carter and Kayvon Thibodeaux have two apiece.
Brian Burns was credited with five of the Giants' 11 quarterback pressures in the first three games, and the Giants' 10.5% pressure rate was the lowest in the NFL with him. The rest of the defense has six pressures on 104 opposing dropbacks.
The Giants placed Burns on injured reserve Tuesday after he tore his ACL against Tennessee. They host Arizona at 1 p.m. Sunday.
Where the pressure came from
Pro Football Reference credits the Giants with 11 pressures, five hurries, five quarterback knockdowns and one sack. The league average pressure rate is 24.3%, by our average of the 32 teams on its team defense page. Indianapolis is next-lowest at 16.1%.
Table 1: Giants pressures by player, Weeks 1–3
| Player | Def. snaps | Pressures | Hurries | Knockdowns | Sacks | Blitzes | Snaps per pressure |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| OLB Brian Burns | 116 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 23 |
| OLB Abdul Carter | 166 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 83 |
| OLB Kayvon Thibodeaux | 99 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 50 |
| LB Arvell Reese | 177 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 177 |
| LB Tremaine Edmunds | 180 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 180 |
| Defensive linemen (6 players) | — | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| Team | 180 | 11 | 5 | 5 | 1 | — | — |
Burns produced a pressure every 23 defensive snaps. Kayvon Thibodeaux has one every 50 snaps and Abdul Carter one every 83. The snaps include run plays. No public 2026 data shows which plays each player was on the field for or rushed the passer on, so the rates compare the three edge rushers with one another.
Burns' production rose as his snaps fell. He had no pressures in 49 snaps in Week 1, two in 42 at the Rams and three in 25 against Tennessee, when he played on the ankle he hurt against the Rams. Burns did not practice that week, was listed questionable and did not start.
No defensive lineman has been credited with a pressure. The six who have played a defensive snap include D.J. Reader and Shelby Harris. Harris sacked Titans quarterback Cam Ward on the snap before Burns was hurt, but a face-mask penalty on Harris wiped it out.
Carter's third-quarter sack of Matthew Stafford at the Rams is the team's only sack. The Giants have seven quarterback hits on 104 dropbacks, by our count from nflverse play-by-play data. The seven hits, a play-by-play count that differs from the five knockdowns in Table 1, are the fewest in the league, and only Miami, with none, has fewer sacks. Teams have been sacked on 6% of dropbacks this season.
After Burns left
The pressure totals in Table 1 are by game, not by play. That rules out a pressure rate with Burns on the field against one with him off it.
Burns was hurt with 6:12 left in the fourth quarter at the Rams, and the Rams dropped back once more. He was hurt early in the fourth quarter against Tennessee, and the Titans dropped back 15 times after that play. The Giants had no sacks and no quarterback hits on those 16 dropbacks. Before the two injuries, they had one sack and seven hits on 88 dropbacks.
The edge rotation
Table 2: Giants edge snap counts by game
| Player | Week 1 vs. Dallas | Week 2 at Rams | Week 3 vs. Titans |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brian Burns | 49 (84%) | 42 (68%) | 25 (42%) |
| Abdul Carter | 53 (91%) | 55 (89%) | 58 (97%) |
| Kayvon Thibodeaux | 27 (47%) | 32 (52%) | 40 (67%) |
| Team defensive snaps | 58 | 62 | 60 |
Carter has played at least 89% of the defensive snaps in every game. Thibodeaux's share has risen each week, and he started in Burns' place against Tennessee. Carter and Thibodeaux were the only outside linebackers besides Burns to play a defensive snap in that game.
Coach John Harbaugh said Monday that Carter and Thibodeaux will be "a massive, massive part" of the rush. "We need to get to the quarterback more," he said. He said opponents have been getting the ball out quickly and chipping, or hitting edge rushers with a back or tight end before releasing, to offset the rush.
He said Wednesday that Arvell Reese will move around. "He's been on the edge already this year for us, so he'll show up in there," Harbaugh said. Reese has blitzed six times and has one pressure, a knockdown of Dak Prescott in Week 1.
SNY posted video of Harbaugh's Wednesday news conference.
The Giants blitz on 22.9% of opponent dropbacks, tied with the Rams for 18th. The league average is 27.0%. Minnesota blitzes on 66.4%.
Jihad Ward
NFL Network's Tom Pelissero reported Wednesday that the Giants are signing edge rusher Jihad Ward off the Vikings' practice squad. As of noon Thursday, the signing did not appear on the Giants' or the NFL's transaction pages.
Ward had eight sacks in 34 games for the Giants in 2022 and 2023, and five sacks in 17 games for Tennessee last season. Ward played for Dennard Wilson, now the Giants' defensive coordinator, in Tennessee.
Arizona's protection
Jacoby Brissett has taken all of Arizona's dropbacks. The Cardinals have allowed five sacks on 123 dropbacks, and left tackle Paris Johnson Jr. and right tackle Elijah Wilkinson have played all 212 offensive snaps.
No Giants edge rusher was on Wednesday's injury report. The Giants' next injury report is due Thursday afternoon.
The contract
Burns is in the third season of a five-year, $141 million contract signed in 2024, with $87.5 million in total guarantees. The deal runs through 2028. Over the Cap lists no guaranteed salary for 2027 or 2028.