Giants need dominance from Big 3 on defense, says DC Shane Bowen

Dexter Lawrence, Brian Burns and Kayvon Thibodeaux need to make impact for Giants to play well on defense

“I got all the confidence in the world in them.”

That’s what New York Giants defensive coordinator Shane Bowen had to say regarding his “Big Three” of Kayvon Thibodeaux, Brian Burns, and Dexter Lawrence.

Bowen acknowledged that those three players need to be impactful for the defense to be good.

“I tell them that every day. Where the resources are delegated, you got to be good. Your best players got to be good. It’s the nature of the league. Your best players got to play their best every single Sunday if you want to play good. Offense, defense, special teams, whatever it might be,” Bowen said. “They have to go out there and perform … there’s expectations that come with the nature of the league.”

The Giants defense struggled in their season-opening loss to the Minnesota Vikings, and Bowen knows this group needs to be better moving forward. Bowen spoke to the media this week about the play of his star defenders, some struggles the defense faced in Week 1, and his early take on Washington Commanders’ rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels.

Does Bowen believe Burns and Thibodeaux can take over a game?

“I do. I do. I absolutely do. I got all the confidence in the world in them. I got confidence, obviously, having (defensive lineman) Dex (Dexter Lawrence II) in there as well. You mix in the rookie (defensive lineman Elijah Chatman), (outside linebacker) Azeez (Ojulari) at times, how it works out. I feel very confident in our ability to affect the quarterback with four guys.”

How does Bowen rate their performance in Week 1?

“I think there were good plays and there were some that they need to improve on. There were plays where they factored (in), there were plays where they were around the quarterback and they were close to the quarterback. I thought Burnsy (Brian Burns) could have had a strip sack on one where he spun inside. KT (Kayvon Thibodeaux) was wrapping around, matched the hand on the DPI (defensive pass interference) they called on (cornerback) Adoree’ (Jackson). KT (Kayvon Thibodeaux) got another hit wrapping around. Just consistency across the board I think has to improve. But there were good and bad with really everybody.”

Bowen on Thibodeaux’s production (or lack thereof)

“I would say it’s game one. It’s game one. I don’t think that’s the level of contribution that he expects from himself or any of us. It is what it is. But again, when the plays are there, we got to be able to make them. When they’re not there, we can’t force our hand and do stuff that’s reckless with the defense just the same. He’s got to play within the system, which he’s done a good job of. Again, just like I tell all these guys, all 11 guys, when the plays are there for you to make, you got to make them. That’s the expectation. When you get one-on-ones, coverage, rushing, whatever that might be, find ways to win. You’re not going to win all of them. They (the other team) get paid too. Find ways to win. Really, at other times, we got to be able to impact outside of the scheme a little bit, outside of those situations.”

Taking advantage of Dexter Lawrence’s dominance

“I hope that’s the case every week. Dex (Dexter Lawrence II) is going to be a handful for a lot of guys in this league, whether it’s one or two guys. He has a knack for winning versus two, which is extremely rare. If they’re putting four hands on him and he’s still winning, that means we’ve got a lot of one-on-ones on the other side. We’ve got to be able to win those. Hopefully, at times, that will result in maybe them having to get four hands off of him, to free him up. It goes hand-in-hand. It goes both ways. Finding ways to create for him, always, and knowing if we don’t, he can still factor, is exceptional for a coordinator.”

Why didn’t the Giants get much pressure on Sam Darnold?

“I think it was a combination of things. I think at times it was the chips, the ability to max protect and the flow of the game. There were some drop back situations. Other times it was more play action, keeping guys in. When we get those one-on-ones, we just got to win. We got to find ways to affect them, hopefully in the middle and on the edges. I tell all these guys, all 11 guys, we have to make the plays when they’re there for us. We got to win our one-on-ones. We got to find ways to win our one-on-ones.”

What has Bowen seen from Jayden Daniels?

“Explosive. He eats up grass. If he gets loose and he gets vertical, he’s eating up grass in a hurry. Led them in rushing. I think he had 88 yards rushing. I think he was decisive with getting the ball out. He went 17 of 24. Passive rating was above 90. Had a really good first game, in my opinion, for a rookie to go out there and do what he did. Talented. We’re going to have to be ready for everything from being able to match and cover to also being able to keep him corralled and not let him get loose on us.”

The defense leaves plenty of room for improvement

“There’s a lot to improve on. Wish we wouldn’t have gave up a few of those big plays in the passing game. Wish we would’ve been better there at the end of the game in the four- minute. Letting them run the ball was disappointing to me. Thought we battled. We started good. Really didn’t make enough plays. They made them and we didn’t, at critical times. We’ve got to continue to get out here and improve our technique and fundamentals and when plays are there, we’ve got to make them.”