After losing to the Detroit Lions 34-27 in OT on Sunday, the Giants decided a coaching change was necessary to address ongoing defensive issues.
On Monday, the team announced that it had fired defensive coordinator Shane Bowen, who spent two seasons with the team. Outside linebackers coach Charlie Bullen will take over the defense for the rest of the season.
“Made the tough decision today to let Shane (Bowen) go as our defense coordinator, and effective immediately, we’re going to let (defensive coordinator) Charlie Bullen run the defense as our defensive coordinator,” Interim Giants head coach Mike Kafka said. “I have a lot of faith in Charlie, and obviously, these decisions aren’t easy, and Shane’s a good person. He’s a good man. He’s a good coach. Just the results just weren’t where we wanted them to be and so Charlie’s going to step up for us and rally the group. The defensive staff will rally around Charlie and put together a great plan. I got a lot of confidence in the room and a lot of confidence in our staff to do that.”
New York’s offense had 517 total yards, but they couldn’t stop the Lions. New York allowed the Lions to amass 494 total yards, including 237 yards on the ground.
The Giants’ defense has struggled this season, ranking near the bottom in total defense and run defense.
On Sunday, Kafka, who took over as interim coach after Brian Daboll’s firing two weeks ago, expressed support for Bowen.
“I have a lot of confidence in Shane and his entire staff,” he said.
However, things changed on Monday, and Kafka explained why.
“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 just felt like this was the right time to do it,” Kaftka said. “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 it, look at it, and kind of figure out what the best thing to do was. So, I wanted to be calculated in how I handled it, and I thought today was the right time.”
The Giants were supposed to be better on defense this year. The defensive line was supposed to anchor this defense, but it never came together. Unfortunately, somebody had to take the fall, and it was Bowen.
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