After blowing yet another double digit lead late in the game, the New York Giants have fired defensive coordinator Shane Bowen on Monday.
The move comes on the heels of the team relieving Brian Daboll of his head coaching duties as New York saw another 10+ point lead slip away against Detroit. It marks the 5th time this season that the Giants have blown a double digit lead, tying an NFL record for late game futility in a single season.
In his absence, linebackers coach Charlie Bullen will be promoted to interim defensive coordinator for the team.
“My decision,” Kafka told reporters. “My decision to make this move… The results just weren’t where we wanted them to be, and so 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 got a lot of confidence in the room and a lot of confidence in our staff to do that.”
“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,” Kafka said. “When I got the job quickly, 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 figure out what the best thing to do was. So wanted to be calculated how I handled it, and I thought that today was the right time.”
The 38 year old Bowen joined the Giants following 3 seasons as defensive coordinator in Tennessee under then head coach Mike Vrabel. New York has invested heavily on the defensive side of the football, regularly spending top draft picks on impact defensive players. However, the unit has allowed a league worst 5.93 yards per carry this season, while ranking 30th in overall defence in 2025 to date.
That kind of underperformance necessitated a change for Kafka who is getting an extended look as interim head coach himself for the duration of the season. Currently 2-10 on the year, New York will be almost assuredly picking inside the top 5 in next season’s draft.
Up next for Big Blue is a Monday night affair against the New England Patriots on December 1st.
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