Shane Bowen Takes Blame for Critical Personnel Decision in Giants' Loss to Broncos

Bowen blamed himself for his personnel decisions.

New York Giants defensive coordinator Shane Bowen | Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

Days after their 33-32 gut-punch loss to the Denver Broncos, New York Giants defensive coordinator Shane Bowen’s decision to drop eight into coverage while rushing only three against Broncos quarterback Bo Nix on their game-winning drive still has people buzzing.

It’s not so much the play itself, as it is who was on the field and who wasn’t.

On that play, Bowen had defensive lineman Dexter Lawrence II and outside linebacker Abdul Carter on the sideline, leaving Brian Burns, Kayvon Thibodeaux, and Roy Robertson-Harris as the three-man rush, raising questions as to why Lawrence wasn't out there.

“Yeah, I have to get him on the field,” Bowen said regarding Lawrence. “I have to get him on the field.”

So why didn’t he?

“It's on me,” Bowen said, confirming that he makes the personnel decisions for the defense. “I have to do a better job just making sure he's out there.”

Later on, though, Bowen admitted that the number of plays the defense had to run in the fourth quarter affected what he might have otherwise done in certain situations.

“It was tempo there in the fourth quarter–I think we ran over 30 plays in the fourth quarter there,” he said. 

“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, because guys are running in and out. Again, just the most critical moments, I have to make sure that our best players are on the field.”

Bowen said there were no hard feelings with Burns, who was captured in a viral video moment ranting about the decision to drop eight into coverage. Burns later clarified that he was ranting in disbelief that the Broncos were still able to make the play, not because he was angry with the play itself.

“We got a good relationship,” Bowen said of Burns. “I think with all these guys, I have 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.

“I think the more we can communicate, the more they can understand my perspective, and I can understand their perspective on things. It allows us to come together and understand where each guy's coming from and how we want to play the game.”

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