Before New York Giants head coach Brian Daboll announced on Monday that he was “not considering” changes to his coaching staff after Sunday’s fourth-quarter debacle in a 33-32 loss to the Denver Broncos, many thought defensive coordinator Shane Bowen should lose his job.
Honestly, many still do.
Sunday’s defensive collapse, giving up 33 points in the fourth quarter after shutting out the Broncos for three quarters, and failing to protect an 18-point lead in the final six minutes, was not the first such defensive collapse for the Giants this season.
In Week 2, Bowen and the Giants could not protect a 3-point lead in the final :25 of regulation against the Dallas Cowboys and lost in overtime.
In both instances, Bowen drew heavy criticism for rushing three and dropping eight defenders into coverage, giving Dak Prescott of Dallas and Bo Nix of Denver time to scan the field and make an unchallenged throw from the pocket.
Players, as evidenced by Brian Burns’ emotional outburst coming off the field on Sunday evening, were unhappy.
The question, then, is do the players still believe in the defensive coordinator?
Linebacker Bobby Okereke, a defensive captain, said on Monday that the team is still “100 percent” behind the embattled defensive coordinator.
“We’re all hands-on deck. We’re all bought in,” Okereke said. “Everyone’s got to look at the man in the mirror. It’s easier to point the finger but from a team perspective, it’s better to point the thumb and figure out what I can do better as an individual. So, that’s what we’re all about to do.”
“We have great trust and conviction in Shane.”
— — Bobby Okereke
Okereke explained the coverage the Giants were in on the “rush three, drop eight” play that resulted in a 29-yard pass to Marvin Mims to put the Broncos at the Giants’ 48-yard line with :33 to play.
“We were in a double robber situation. So, you got two free guys kind of sitting there looking for the in breakers. You got everybody outside leverage. You got me, man on the back and the back’s chipping. So, obviously they’re trying to neutralize our pass rush,” Okereke said. “And I think, like I said, this is a maturation process for our team. So just going to grow and understanding how they’re trying to attack us in a two-minute situation like that, based off the time.
“I think time on the clock was maybe 37 seconds or something like that. That’s a lot of time. You’re thinking the game’s almost over, they got no timeouts, but 37 seconds is a lot of time, especially with the new kickoff rule. And I mean, with kickers playing the way they are, they [have] only got to get to the 45, to the 50. So, just understanding how teams are trying to attack you in two minutes. And obviously this is a painful lesson, but we’re excited for the opportunity to grow from this.”
There are, of course, two philosophies. Send a heavy rush, count on it impacting the quarterback, and depend on your secondary to hold up if it doesn’t. Or, drop extra players into coverage to try and limit options for the quarterback.
Okereke understands the dilemma.
“I think it’s tough. It’s based on situational. It’s based on the flow of the game,” Okereke said. “You could say you can get in a similar situation and you rush six or seven and you have everybody isolated. One guy misses a tackle and he [the receiver] goes off and you’re saying ‘Why don’t you have help?’
“So, we have great trust and conviction in Shane. I thought he put us in a great situation to execute in that situation. Just us as players, obviously in the fourth quarter, just got to have that aggressive mindset to be more detailed and just understand how they’re going to attack us in those critical situations because it’s one play here or there that that’ll turn the tide of the game.”
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