To his credit, defensive coordinator Shane Bowen did not hide on Thursday from his role in the New York Giants’ failure on Sunday to protect a three-point lead over the Dallas Cowboys in the final :25 of regulation, ultimately leading to a 40-37 overtime defeat.
The play that has been discussed again and again is an 18-yard pass from Dak Prescott to Jake Ferguson that moved the ball from the Dallas 33-yard line to the Giants’ 49-yard line. It got Dallas in position to set all-world placekicker Brandon Aubrey up for a game-tying 64-yard field goal.
“Credit to him making a 64-yarder, but we knew that was his range,” Bowen said. “Just trying to defend the line as best we could.
“Wish we would have been tighter. A little bit tighter. Again, just like all these calls that don’t work, second guess that you probably wish you went a different direction. A tough, tough situation to come down to that one play. I got to be better.”
Bowen admitted that “how the call worked out, I would have liked to have a different call.”
Safety Jevon Holland said on Monday that the Giants were trying to keep the Cowboys from reaching the 5-yard line.
“Everybody knew what the line was going to be for him,” Bowen said. “Any call you make, if it doesn’t work, you second guess it. You got to look at them all and evaluate what’s best for the situation, what’s best for these players and go from there.”
Bowen acknowledged it was not fun to watch the play on film with the players on Monday morning.
“It’s tough,” Bowen said. “All of us are accountable for it. To everything, obviously I’m accountable to that and that call. I told them I wish I would have been a little bit tighter and made a little bit different call for you guys.”
The Giants poured significant resources during the offseason into a defense co-owner John Mara had called out at the end of last season, saying “I’m tired of watching teams go up and down the field on us.”
The Giants signed Holland, cornerback Paulson Adebo, defensive tackle Roy Robertson-Harris and edge defender Chauncey Golston to significant free-agent contracts. They drafted edge defender Abdul Carter with the No. 3 overall pick, and defensive tackle Darius Alexander in Round 3.
The results through the first two games have not been good. The Giants are:
- Last in the league in yards allowed.
- 27th in points allowed.
- Last in rushing yards allowed.
- 31st in yards allowed per rushing attempt.
- Last in total yards allowed.
- 28th in yards allowed per play.
- Last in first downs allowed. The 57 they have surrendered is 10 more than any other team.
- 26th in completion percentage allowed.
- 29th in passing yards allowed per game.
- 31st in the league in Expected Points Added (EPA) on second and third down.
- In the bottom third of the league in pressure rate at 30.9%, despite the number of big-name players they have in their front seven.
After Mara’s condemnation of the defense in January some were surprised head coach Brian Daboll chose to retain Bowen for a second season in charge of the defense. After Sunday’s outcome, frustrated fans looking for a scapegoat were calling for Bowen’s ouster.
“I feel pressure to do my job,” Bowen said. “I’m here for the guys. I’m in charge of that group. Between me, the defensive staff, the players, we got things we got to fix. We understand that.
“We’re working hard to find solutions to make adjustments where needed.”
Daboll had said on Monday that the Giants lost “collectively,” not because of one play or one unit. Bowen echoed a similar message when it comes to the variety of things that have led to the defense underperforming expectations over the first two games.
“Ultimately, it comes down to everybody doing their job,” Bowen said. “Do your job a little bit better.
“A little bit more consistently and hopefully we can continue to build off the good things. Learn from the bad things and get those nixed where we can take some strides here and win. Find a way to win.”
Bowen said coaches and players have to work together to make that a reality.
“We’re in it together,” he said. “We spend so much time together. We’ve got to be able to have each other’s backs. The good times and the bad, it’s not always going to be good. We’ve got to make sure, us as a coaching staff, as a defensive unit, as a team, that we’re in this thing together.
“We’re going to keep working and have trust that we’re all going to keep working to get better and find ways to improve so we can win.”
Slow starts by the Giants are par for the course. This is the third straight year and seventh time in nine years that the Giants have started a season 0-2 or worse. They still, though, have 15 chances to get things right.
“We got to move on and get ready for the Chiefs,” Bowen said. “We’re two games in. We’re not where we want to be defensively. We got to improve. We all understand that. At the same time, we got a great opportunity this week on Sunday Night Football to go there and play against a really good offense, really good quarterback [Patrick Mahomes]. Hopefully, we can put our best foot forward.”
It will help if Bowen remembers to make that an aggressive foot.
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