When a team surrenders 33 points in the fourth quarter and becomes the first in 1,603 NFL games to blow an 18-point lead with less than six minutes to play, that team’s defensive coordinator is going to face serious questions.
New York Giants defensive coordinator Shane Bowen, whose team authored such a performance Sunday in a 33-32 loss to the Denver Broncos, faced the music on Sunday.
In short, Bowen said he thought he had the right call on the much-criticized ‘rush three, drop eight’ play that resulted in a 29-yard completion on the Broncos’ game-winning drive. He did, though, take responsibility for star defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence being off the field on that play.
‘Cat-and-mouse’ game
Brian Burns said this week that the ‘rush three, drop eight’ call “was perfect for that situation.”
The situation was first-and-10 at the Denver 23-yard line with :33 to play and the Giants protecting a 32-30 lead. The Giants rushed three, dropped eight into coverage and this happened:
Bo Nix overthrew Courtland Sutton and the ball fell into the unsuspecting arms of Marvin Mims.
Denver had a seven-man protection and, with Bobby Okereke eyeing the running back, the Giants ended up with seven defensive backs against three Broncos receivers.
Why that call in that spot?
“It’s all about how you want to delegate your resources. The situations, they’re always changing. They’re always evolving. They’re all a little bit different,” Bowen said. “Them not having any timeouts. I think they were in seven-man protection. They had those guys in there. So, I mean, it’s a cat-and-mouse game, understanding how they’re going to attack you. I had an idea of what was coming. It felt like we were in a good call. Obviously, it didn’t work out, and it wasn’t what we wanted it to be … I have continue to work that to make sure I can put our players in the best position to execute in those moments.”
‘It’s me. It’s all me.’
Bowen didn’t explain why Dexter Lawrence was on the sideline and Roy Robertson-Harris was at nose tackle on that play. He did take responsibility.
“It’s me. It’s all me,” he said. “It was tempo there in the fourth quarter, I think we ran over 30 plays in the fourth quarter there. So, there’s going to be some moving in and out, and it affects what you’re able to do just in terms of packaging and some of that too, because guys are running in and out. And again, just the most critical moments, those critical plays, I have to make sure that our best players are on the field.
“I have to make sure he’s [Lawrence] out there on the field.”
Brian Daboll’s involvement
Bowen said that he and head coach Brian Daboll are always in communication.
“I think me and Dabs are always in constant communication on game day,” Bowen said. “He knows what’s going on. It’s always back and forth. As what he sees, what I see, along with our defensive staff, I think we got a good communication in terms of that on game day.”
His relationship with Brian Burns
“We got a good relationship. We talk. I think with all these guys, I got a good relationship with all these guys where I hope they’re able to voice their opinions to me, good, bad, indifferent as it goes,” Bowen said. “Again, we talk through everything as a group, as a coaching staff, and then along with these players as well, making sure we’re on the same page. I think the more we can communicate, they can understand my perspective, I can understand their perspective on things. It allows us to kind of come together and understand where each guy’s coming from and how we want to play the game.
“I talked to all of them about all the play. I talked to them, I approached all those guys about the play.”
