Fact or Fiction: Brian Burns’ sack numbers; NFC vs. AFC

Dan Salomone: Fact – When the Giants traded for him, we knew his floor was higher than most players. Entering the season, he was one of eight players in NFL history to record at least 7.5 sacks in each of his first five seasons (Reggie White, Derrick Thomas, DeMarcus Ware, Jared Allen, Aaron Donald, Ryan Kerrigan, and Yannick Ngakoue). He made that six in a row as he currently sits at eight sacks in his Giants debut campaign. Burns has picked up a sack in each of his past two home games, including one of Baltimore’s Lamar Jackson.

Matt Citak: Fiction – Burns has put together a strong first season with the Giants, despite his box score stats not necessarily jumping off the page. He leads the team with 57 pressures, according to Next Gen Stats, which are tied for the 11^th in the NFL. Nonetheless, I’m not sure Burns gets two more sacks this season given the upcoming matchups. Anthony Richardson has been sacked only 14 times in 11 games this season. Then it would come down to sacking Jalen Hurts twice next week, which is a tall task. I believe Burns will end the season just shy of double-digit sacks with nine.

Dan Salomone: Fiction – Credit goes to Giants.com’s Michael Eisen for pointing this out, but the Giants keep losing their leading tackler, from Bobby Okereke to Tyler Nubin to Micah McFadden. Next up on the list is safety Jason Pinnock. He will try to keep up the tackle numbers while avoiding injury.

Matt Citak: Fact – With Bobby Okereke sidelined, Muasau has played 76 percent, 100 percent and 99 percent of the team’s defensive snaps in each of the last three games, respectively. He totaled 25 tackles during that span, including 11 in last week’s game against the Falcons. Okereke is on injured reserve, and Micah McFadden’s status for this Sunday is in doubt due to the neck injury he suffered in Atlanta. The Colts are going to try to run the ball early and often on Sunday, which means Muasau is likely in for another high-volume day. The rookie linebacker will crack double-digit tackles and lead the team for the second consecutive week.