The New York Giants have — finally — fired defensive coordinator Shane Bowen.
After the Giants blew a lead and lost a game for the sixth time this season on Sunday against the Detroit Lions, interim head coach Mike Kafka decided to move on from the heavily-criticized Bowen.
Bowen was hired by former coach Brian Daboll before the 2024 season to replace Wink Martindale, a popular, extremely aggressive coordinator. Bowen’s more conservative, four-man rush philosophy is a sharp contrast to the “pressure breaks pipes” blitz-oriented schemes Martindale employed in two seasons with New York.
The Giants have lost five games this season in which they held a double-digit lead. Sunday’s game marked the third straight week and fourth time this season the Giants failed to hold a fourth-quarter lead.
Bowen was hired after a stint as Tennessee Titans’ defensive coordinator with the hope that he could help the Giants’ run defense. New York is last in the NFL in run defense, giving up 5.5 yards per attempt. In 2024, they finished 24th in that category.
After co-owner John Mara expressed dissatisfaction with the defense at the end of last season, the Giants added safety Jevon Holland and cornerback Paulson Adebo in free agency, and drafted edge defender Abdul Carter No. 3 overall and defensive tackle Darius Alexander in Round 3.
Despite those moves, the Giants are one of the worst defenses in the league. They are 30th in the NFL in points allowed at 27.8 per game last in yards allowed per rushing attempt at 5.9. The Giants allowed 237 rushing yards in Sunday’s loss to the Lions and have given up more than 200 rushing yards three times this season.
As of now, Kafka has yet to name an interim defensive coordinator.
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