What New Defensive Coordinator Charlie Bullen Changed on Giants' Defense

The results still weren't good enough, but in a one-game sample, Charlie Bullen made some notable tweaks to help the defense play faster.

New York Giants defensive coordinator Charlie Bullen | John Jones-Imagn Images

New York Giants interim head coach Mike Kafka relieved defensive coordinator Shane Bowen of his duties following another game in which the Giants held a double-digit lead and lost.

Replacing Bowen is outside linebackers coach Charlie Bullen, the Giants’ outside linebackers coach who has never called defensive plays before.

Under Bowen, the Giants' defense was allowing 27.8 points and 385 yards per game, as well as 6.02 yards per play.

Those ranks would have the Giants as the 30th-ranked scoring defense, 30th-ranked total defense, and 28th-ranked defense in yards per play.

In the one-game sample size under Bullen, the Giants' defense allowed 26 points against the Patriots; seven of those points came on a punt return touchdown.

The Giants also allowed 395 yards and 6.27 yards per play, neither of which is a dramatic difference from what we’ve seen the rest of the season.

The most notable differences

Under Bowen, the Giants' defense was mostly conservative when it came to blitzing, only blitzing on roughly 25% of their passing defense plays.

When Bullen took over, he unsurprisingly tried to ramp up the pass-rush by adding more blitzing into the mix. The Giants blitzed on 38.9% of passing plays against the Patriots, their second-highest percentage of the season.

The pass-rush plan was much more creative against the Patriots than it was the rest of the year. Remember, Bullen was Illinois’ pass-rush coordinator in 2023, so although he hadn’t been a defensive coordinator before, he has experience putting together a pass-rush plan.

The Giants used creepers to involve other players in the pass-rush plan, using Bobby Okereke, Dane Belton, and Tyler Nubin more than ever before.

Coverage-wise, it seemed like the Giants' defense simplified what they were being asked to do.

When Bowen was calling plays, the Giants' defense had a balanced coverage sheet, but under Bullen, the defense focused more on Cover 3, Cover 4, and Cover 1. 

It’s very common for new defensive coordinators to want to simplify their defenses. The logic is that when defensive coordinators are failing, they often keep trying to empty the play-calling clip, which ends up asking too much of the defenders.

Considering the quality of the Giants' back seven overall, asking them to do more is probably flawed thinking. Bullen instead asked the secondary to do fewer things, just at a higher level.

Asking the pass-rush to do more is fine because the pass-rush wasn’t what was hamstringing the defense; it was coverage. It was also a good idea to take Okereke out of coverage sometimes, as he’s been struggling all season.

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