Report: Giants fire defensive coordinator Shane Bowen

The New York Giants have fired defensive coordinator Shane Bowen after yet another fourth quarter meltdown against the Detroit Lions, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter.

Interim head coach Mike Kafka made the decision. He’s been elevated after Brian Daboll was fired after a loss to the Chicago Bears. Bowen was originally hired by the Giants after Daboll had a falling out with then defensive coordinator Wink Martindale, who’s since joined the Michigan Wolverines.

Daboll ended his tenure with an overall record of 20-40-1 (.336), being the fifth-worst win percentage all-time for a coach of the franchise and the worst of the anyone with as many games as he had on their sideline, since he made his head coaching debut in 2022. 

That was his only winning campaign as New York was 9-7-1 (.559) with a seven-point win in the NFC Wild Card over the Minnesota Vikings before losing by 31 to the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFC Divisional. In his other two and a half seasons since combined, the Giants, being among the league’s worst on both sides of the ball during that span, have been 11-33 (.250).

That included this season, with his final game a loss where the Giants fell to 2-8 with a 24-20 loss on the road to the Chicago Bears. New York led by as much as ten twice in the second half, but gave up fourteen unanswered in the final four minutes to lose again in the final game under Daboll. 

They, after an 0-3 start, seemed to find a new energy with a quarterback change to end September, as they went 2-1 from Week 4 to Week 6. However, the Giants followed that up by losing four more straight, including having blown a 19-point lead on the road to the Denver Broncos, double-digit losses on the road to the Philadelphia Eagles and against the San Francisco 49ers, and that missed opportunity at Chicago, to be last in the NFC East, tied for last in the NFC with the New Orleans Saints, and being only better record-wise in the NFL than the Tennessee Titans.

There was a lot of excitement around Daboll’s hire after being a long-time offensive coach around the NFL, namely over three years with the Buffalo Bills. However, his tenure with New York disappointed in barely winning just a third of his games, with the Giants set to begin searching for their fifth head coach of the last decade.

In the meantime, Kafka has lost his first two games as head coach of the Giants, with backup Jameis Winston leading the charge. However, he’s been plagued by the same problem Daboll had, with his defense blowing leads late in the fourth quarter against the Green Bay Packers and the Detroit Lions.

Moving forward, the Giants will be hoping to finish their season strong. They’ll play the New England Patriots on Monday Night Football next week, with a bye week to follow.

Then, they’ll have a four week sprint of winnable games — the Washington Commanders, Minnesota Vikings, Las Vegas Raiders and Dallas Cowboys. Perhaps firing their defensive coordinator will help them accomplish what they want to over this final stretch in 2025.