How Shane Bowen and the Giants' defense got on the same page
Giants defensive coordinator Shane Bowen. Credit: Ed Murray
It was just one month ago that defensive coordinator Shane Bowen had to publicly apologize for not being aggressive enough in the closing seconds of regulation in Dallas, allowing the Cowboys to get into field goal range to send that practically-won game into overtime and then win it as time expired in the extra period.
Since then, the Giants have won two games and his defense played well enough in a third to have won it were it not for the five straight offensive turnovers. In the four games since the Dallas defeat, the Giants’ defense has allowed an average of 19 points per game (the Saints had one touchdown on a fumble return). They have registered four takeaways in the last three games after just one in the first three, have seven sacks in the last four games and allowed just five touchdowns in the last three.
So what changed?
Simple. Bowen did.
As with many coaches who are pushed to the brink of their tenures, Bowen had to start truly listening to his players and begin to trust them to pull him back. He had to realize that the theories and philosophies he drew up during the week may have looked great on a whiteboard but on the field they needed to be tweaked to account for the players’ abilities.
The Giants kept Bowen after last year’s disappointments and spent a lot of resources on refitting their defense this offseason, adding free agents Jevon Holland and Paulson Adebo as well as draft picks Abdul Carter and Darius Alexander. They also have a much healthier Brian Burns, a rededicated Kayvon Thibodeaux and a dominant Dexter Lawrence. It seemed as if it took Bowen a few games to realize he was not coaching last year’s personnel. But now he is there. And the Giants’ defense has truly arrived with him.
“We got some new pieces,” Bowen said. “I feel like we're trying to evolve as we go. There's a comfort level that's getting established, I think, among them out there as well. That always plays a part in it . . . I'm pleased with the group. I'm pleased with the progress we're making.”
Bowen’s about-face that has turned the Giants into a more aggressive unit did take some nudging. After the win over the Eagles last week, Giants coach Brian Daboll was asked about the defense holding the defending Super Bowl champions scoreless in the second half.
“Have to be aggressive,” Daboll said. “I told Shane to be aggressive. Don’t hold anything in your holster. Go after them. I thought he did a good job of mixing things up, disguising some stuff.”
That message wasn’t just coming from Bowen’s boss.
“We’ve been on him,” Lawrence said of the players’ pleas for more fire. “It takes him, it takes us executing and that’s how it goes.”
Such confluence has happened at several points during the last few games. Against the Chargers, the Giants ran a blitz that resulted in them getting beat for a long play. Later in the game, Burns urged Bowen to call it again. He did and the linebacker sacked Justin Herbert to help seal the Giants' first win of the year.
Then last week, the Giants dialed up another pressure for which the players were pushing. That resulted in Cor’Dale Flott’s interception and long return against Jalen Hurts.
“It starts with just open communication and trust with the coaches and the players,” Thibodeaux said. “I think we have that in this building and facility. But I think Bowen has been elevating and changing and evolving on how he calls different games. His growth, as well as our players’, and his understanding of what works and what doesn't work, what we like, will kind of help our skillsets.”
Said Holland: “We’re settling into the season and doing what is necessary.”
These kinds of negotiations between coordinators and players are nothing new, certainly not with the Giants. One of the big turning points of their 2007 Super Bowl season was the defense finding its footing after two games of bad play under Steve Spagnuolo. The same thing happened in 2011 when Perry Fewell listened to his players, simplified his schemes, and took more of a laissez-faire approach.
Where this latest bending takes the Giants remains to be seen, but it’s been an improvement and that’s the most important thing. On Sunday, they’ll roll it out against the Broncos. While all eyes will be on how rookie quarterback Jaxson Dart performs against the Denver defense, it will be up to the Giants defenders to keep them in the game.
Bowen laughed when asked if he has ever had players ask him to be less aggressive rather than the typical request to be more so.
“It's funny because you talk to different groups and you get different answers, you know what I'm saying?” he said. “I'm open to those guys having their opinions and bringing suggestions about how we see things, how we want to play things and making sure we're all on the same page.”
That is the key. More than what is called when, it is important for the coordinator and the 11 on the field to be together in agreement on what is expected, why it is being deployed and what needs to be executed.
Bowen and the Giants seem to be getting to that point.
Tom Rock began covering sports for Newsday in 1996 and became its NFL columnist in 2022. He previously was Newsday's Giants beat writer beginning in 2008.
