A late comeback by the Detroit Lions for an overtime win over the New York Giants was enough for a personnel change in New York.
After coughing up a 10-point lead in the fourth quarter to the Lions and losing 34-27 in overtime on Sunday, the Giants reportedly fired defensive coordinator Shane Bowen Monday morning.
While Jahmyr Gibbs rocking the defense for 264 all-purpose yards and three touchdowns was certainly a bad look, a change has been long in the making.
The Giants already parted with head coach Brian Daboll two weeks ago, putting then-offensive coordinator Mike Kafka in charge as the interim coach.
Building out leads early hasn’t been an issue much this season for the 2-10 Giants, but rather keeping them.
After Detroit’s comeback, the Giants are now tied for the NFL record for blown fourth-quarter leads when up by 10-plus points in a season, with five.
New York’s defense under Bowen also ranks 30th in both yards allowed and point allowed per game.
Following the game, Kafka was questioned about if he had confidence in Bowen and expressed his support.
“Yeah, I have a lot of confidence in Shane and his entire staff,” Kafka said.
Bowen, 38, was a linebacker at Georgia Tech and began his coaching path there as a student assistant. He held a position-coaching job at Kennesaw State before moving to the NFL as an assistant. Before joining the Giants in 2024, Bowen was the Tennessee Titans’ DC for three seasons.
This is the second time this year that an offensive outburst from the Lions led to some changes for another NFL team. After the Lions’ dominant win over the Washington Commanders in Week 10, the Commanders demoted DC Joe Whitt from defensive play calling.
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