Bowen discusses player mistakes vs. Washington, takes accountability for his own
After the New York Giants’ frustrating loss to Washington, defensive coordinator Shane Bowen on Thursday acknowledged key adjustments that he should have made, particularly when it came to containing quarterback Jayden Daniels.
Daniels, known for his dual-threat capabilities, consistently found ways to extend plays with his legs. Bowen, reflecting on the game, admitted the team should have assigned a spy to limit Daniels’ mobility.
“Looking back, we should’ve put more focus on Daniels,” Bowen said. “He’s a dynamic player, and giving him that much space to work with was a mistake. We needed to spy him, keep him under control.”
Daniels hurt the Giants not just through the air but on the ground, rushing for critical yards that allowed Washington to sustain drives. Bowen emphasized how critical it is for the Giants to make adjustments on the fly.
“We knew he had the ability to escape the pocket, and yet we didn’t do enough to contain him,” Bowen continued. “You can’t let a guy like Daniels find his rhythm—he’ll make you pay.
“We’ve got to be better. It’s on us to make those adjustments in real-time, especially against a quarterback who can hurt you in multiple ways.”
Bowen hopes the team will learn from the loss and implement faster defensive shifts when needed, ensuring they don’t allow another quarterback to exploit their defense as Daniels did.
“We can’t afford these kinds of mistakes, not at this level,” Bowen concluded. “We’ll correct it and be ready for the next one.”
On never forcing a punt vs. Washington
The Commanders scored all seven times they possessed the ball, albeit via field goals.
“I think the first thing that comes to mind is we’ve got to force them to punt. Really proud of the guys and the resolve, the resiliency to get stops in the red zone. To keep playing through all the adversity that showed up. To get stops after third and long completions on drives or conversions on drives… Those things are back-breaking. And (they) continued to play and find stops. Really proud of their resolve, especially after Week 1, not getting stops down there. But, we can’t let them down there seven times. We can’t. We got to be better out in the field. We got to make sure we’re getting off the field on third down, doing our part and not fouling on third down to extend drives.”
Why the run defense struggled
“I think tackling. Tackling showed up. Missed some tackles, even on the scramble plays. We had guys in opportunities to make plays on those to get off the field on third down. And tackling showed up. I think a couple were fit issues. One, we just get too nosy. We got him bottled up, we get nosy and he leaks out on us. The post safety gets a little nosy, as well, and it goes for 40 (yards). It’s a potential third and one stop that turns into 40 yards. Just continuing our fits. Making sure we’re flying around, running to the football. Making sure the missed tackles don’t turn into… because they’re going happen. We got to reduce them. They’re going to happen from time to time. But making sure those missed tackles end up being two to five additional yards instead of 10-plus.”
On players doing their jobs
Multiple players this week said they were guilty of at times trying to do more than they should have.
“That’s across the unit. I don’t think that’s just Bobby (Okereke). We got to make sure all 11 guys are focused on doing their job because it turns into a chain reaction. Somebody’s out of place, somebody sees somebody going somewhere that doesn’t look right to them, and then all of a sudden they want to make that guy right, and right now they’re (the opposing team is) finding it. We’re at a point right now where they’re finding it every time. A lot of times… Sometimes they don’t find it and you get away with stuff. They’re finding it right now. So, we got to lock in, make sure we’re doing our job on every snap. I got to do a good job putting them in positions where they can execute their job. But again, worry about your one-eleventh. Trust the other guys. Keep building that confidence in the other guys that they’re going to be where they’re supposed to be as well.”
