Shane Bowen Makes Honest Confession Regarding Giants' Head Coaching Shakeup

New York Giants defensive coordinator Shane Bowen doesn’t play the defensive snaps, make the tackles, or commit the penalties that have plagued his unit all season long. But to his credit, he has consistently pointed the finger at himself for the unit’s woes, and this week, in light of ex-head coach Brian Daboll’s dismissal, Bowen did so again.

“He has done a lot for me; I’ve learned a lot from him. Really can't say enough good things about him as a leader and what he's meant to me over these past two years,” Bowen said before fielding questions from the media.

“There's responsibility that falls on me. We haven't been good enough defensively, particularly closing out games. Something we're working on, evaluating everything, scheme, personnel, different situations, what we can do to continue to improve and find ways to be at our best when it matters most.”

The problem is that the Giants under Bowen have been trying now for weeks to fix what ails the defense, which currently is ranked 29th overall, 31st against the run, and 23rd against the pass, and which also has a 1.13% interception rate, which is 28th league wide and which sits 31st in red zone defense (69.23% conversion rate).

Again, part of that falls on the players. Still, part of it also falls on the scheme and the play calls, something of which perhaps with Kafka now in those meetings–he wasn’t previously, despite his role as assistant head coach–the hope is that having a fresh perspective might do wonders as far as the defensive game plan is concerned.

“Yeah, I don't know if it's going to be anything drastic,” Bowen said when asked about potential changes to the defense. “There are obviously things we need to do a little bit differently. Obviously, game day is most important, but that's throughout the week as well, right?

“Just the process throughout the week, what that looks like to be able to get us to game day, and then be able to go out there and perform on game day. So I don't know if there's going to be anything drastic, but there will be some things that we're adjusting as we go.”

Bowen, however, might be limited by injuries on his side of the ball. Currently, the Giants have seven defensive players on this week’s injury report, including inside linebacker Bobby Okereke (shoulder), outside linebacker Kayvon Thibodeaux (shoulder), defensive lineman Rakeem Nunez-Roches (toe), and cornerback Paulson Adebo (knee).

Having injuries has forced Bowen to juggle his lineups and even lean on guys who might not ordinarily be a fit for specific tasks, asking them to step outside their boundaries.

But Bowen, who has seen his defense blow four games this year despite having the lead, knows that at the end of the day, there are no excuses for his unit’s shortcomings, and he has vowed to remain committed to doing what he can to ensure the bleeding on the defense stops.

“The major emphasis for us is finding ways to be at our best when it matters most,” he said. “At the end of these games, (when) we have leads, do the best job I can to make sure our players are in situations where, when the time comes, they can make the plays that are needed to win those games.”

Based on his conversations with Kafka, the nature of which he declined to specify, Bowen is confident that it will fall into place.

Obviously, I have a great relationship with Coach Kafka through these past two seasons. Excited about the opportunity for him. And again, my focus is on doing my best to get our guys in a position to make plays where we can finish these games and perform better defensively when it matters most.”

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