Giants fire defensive coordinator Shane Bowen after latest fourth-quarter collapse

Giants interim head coach Mike Kafka announced that he had fired defensive coordinator Shane Bowen on Monday, a day after yet another fourth-quarter collapse as the Giants fell to the Lions, 34-27, in overtime.

It was the team's sixth straight loss and fifth loss this season in which the Giants (2-10) coughed up a double-digit lead, tying an NFL record, according to ESPN.

Outside linebackers coach Charlie Bullen, who’s been on the staff since 2024, was named the interim defensive coordinator.

“I have a lot of faith in Charlie,” Kafka said Monday. “Obviously, these decisions aren’t easy. Shane is a good person, he is a good man, he is a good coach. The results just weren’t where we wanted them to be. Charlie is going to step up for us and rally the group. The defensive staff will rally around Charlie and put together a great plan. I have a lot of confidence in the room and a lot of confidence in our staff to do that.”

Bullen does not have experience as a play-caller, which some others on the Giants’ remaining defensive staff do. He was the  outside linebackers coach at lllinois in 2023 and was in a similar capacity with the Arizona Cardinals from 2020-22.

“We’re going to give Charlie the reins to make the corrections that he sees fit for the defense, whether it’s personnel, scheme, communication, calls,” Kafka said. “He’s going to work hand-in-hand with the whole defensive unit to make sure it’s his vision. Obviously, I’ll have my fingerprint on there as well and be there and try to be an asset for the group as well.”

Kafka said he had “a great conversation” with Bullen on Monday morning about what the defense could and should look like.

What it has looked like nearly all season is why it needs changing. The Giants led in the fourth quarter in five of their seven road losses but couldn’t finish. In three of those games, the Giants had double-digit leads in the fourth quarter, including a 19-0 lead at Denver that became a 33-32 loss.

On Sunday, the Giants led 27-17 in the fourth quarter but lost the lead on a tying 59-yard field goal with 28 seconds left in regulation. The defense then allowed the go-ahead touchdown on the first play of overtime, a 69-yard run by Jahmyr Gibbs.

 The defense entered the season with high expectations, but the Giants are 30th in total defense and 31st in red-zone defense. After being 27th in run defense last year, the Giants are last in 2025, allowing 157.2 rushing yards per game.

They’re also allowing 5.93 yards per carry, the most in the NFL and on pace to be the most allowed by an NFL team in the Super Bowl era.

Kafka, who was named interim head coach on Nov. 10 when Brian Daboll was fired, clearly knew that the defense was the culprit for many of the losses this season. He had voiced support for Bowen and reiterated Sunday that he had full confidence in Bowen and his staff.

Not even 24 hours later, that confidence was gone. So was Bowen.

“I just had an opportunity to watch the tape, look back at a few weeks, watch a lot of the defense, watch a lot of what was going on, the communication, and I just felt like this was the right time to do it,” Kafka said of the timing of this change. “When I got the job, I didn’t want to make a lot of rash decisions and jump to anything really quick. I wanted to have some time to sit back, evaluate, look at it and kind of figure out what the best thing to do was. I wanted to be calculated in how I handled it. I thought today was the right time.”

Two weeks ago, when Kafka was named interim head coach, Bullen said the biggest connection he had with Kafka at that point was that they both originally are from Illinois. As coaches on opposite sides of the ball, they did not interact much.

Now that relationship will change with Bullen in charge of defense.

“He’s a great person and great coach, been around winning, and I really enjoyed watching him this week,” Bullen said on Nov. 14. “I’ve seen consistency and identifying a standard and how he wants things to operate and for players and coaches to go about their business. It’s clear messaging, it’s consistent, and it’s easy to understand so everyone can just go and do their job.”

On Bullen’s watch, Brian Burns has a career-high 13 sacks, which leads the NFC and is second in the NFL.

Bowen was hired before the 2024 season after Daboll fired previous coordinator Wink Martindale, and the Giants struggled during his tenure.

The Giants have forced only seven turnovers this season, 26th in the league. Last season, their 15 takeaways were 26th in the NFL and they set a then-NFL record with 11 consecutive games without an interception.

Bullen will get his first chance to fix the defense on Monday night when the Giants face the Patriots and look to end a 12-game road losing streak.

Newsday's Tom Rock contributed to this story.