Brian Daboll Not Considering Staff Changes Following Giants' Week 7 Loss

Daboll seems to be willing to stick with the status quo regarding defensive coordinator Shane Bowen.

New York Giants defensive coordinator Shane Bowen has been relieved of his duties following a horrific collapse of his defense against Denver. | Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

A day after a defensive meltdown of epic proportions that saw the New York Giants defense give up over 200 yards and 33 points to the Denver Broncos in the fourth quarter of their 33-32 loss, Giants head coach Brian Daboll said he is not contemplating any changes to his staff at the moment.

“No, I’m not considering that,” Daboll said when asked about possible changes. “But we all got to do a better job. It starts with me. And there’s plenty of opportunities to finish that game the way we wanted to, and we didn’t get the job done.”

That of course means that defensive coordinator Shane Bowen, who twice now has crawled into a passive shell with games on the line–in addition to Denver, he did so in the overtime loss to Dallas–is safe for now.

Daboll kept insisting during his Monday video call with reporters that the loss was a “collective” occurrence that didn’t boil down to any one individual or sequence.

“There’s plenty of plays that we had opportunities to make throughout the fourth quarter,” Daboll said. 

“We just came up short. It’s not about one play. It’s not about one player. It’s not about one specific side. It’s a collective. I can do a better job.”

Still, there’s little doubt as to what contributed the most to the Giants' historic loss on Sunday, and that was the complete meltdown by the defense, which starts with Bowen.

Bowen, who is in his second season as defensive coordinator, never quite seemed to be a fit in terms of aligning what he ran with the strengths of the Giants’ defensive talent.

In recent weeks, members of the Giants defense have grown increasingly frustrated with how things have transpired, even struggling to hold their tongues when asked about the decisions made on the field. 

This week, outside linebacker Brian Burns was visibly fuming after the game as he walked off the field and back to the locker room, while loudly venting his frustration.

A very angry Brian Burns leaving the field in Denver after a devastating loss. pic.twitter.com/N7cQ5dmx8P

— James Palmer (@JamesPalmerTV) October 19, 2025

Burns, who was also clearly upset at his locker when reporters were admitted to the room, was particularly angry about a play in which Bowen called for the defense to rush three–none of which were defensive lineman Dexter Lawrence II or rookie Abdul Carter, both of whom were on the sideline–and drop eight into coverage which led to Broncos quarterback Bo Nix getting his team into field goal range for kicker Wil Lutz’s walk off score.  

The Giants defense is currently ranked 29th, having allowed 376.0 yards per game. It’s also 25th against the run (130.7 yards per game) and 26th against the pass (245.3 yards/game).

In addition, the defense is 12th in third-down conversions allowed, ranks 29th in first downs allowed per game (22.7), 30th in fourth-down conversions, tied for 22nd in the red zone, and has surrendered 25.3 points per game, tenth-worst mark in the league through seven weeks.

Most of those rankings are worse than how the Giants finished last season, the defense coming in 24th overall, the passing defense finishing eighth, and the average points allowed per game being 24.4.

The Giants (2-5) visit the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday. 

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