The New York Giants fired defensive coordinator Shane Bowen on Monday following the team’s 34-27 overtime loss to the Detroit Lions, according to a league source.
The move comes after the Giants fired head coach Brian Daboll following their Week 10 loss to the Bears. Bowen lasted two games under interim coach Mike Kafka, both losses, as the team fell to 2-10. The Giants, losers of six straight, became the first team in the NFL to be officially eliminated from playoff contention.
After Sunday’s loss, which included another blown lead, Kafka stood by Bowen, along with the rest of his staff.
“I have a lot of confidence in Shane and his entire staff,” Kafka said during his postgame news conference.
Obviously, things changed, as Kafka is looking to snap the Giants out of their current funk and win a few games before the season ends. Outside linebackers coach Charlie Bullen will take over as the interim defensive coordinator, according to a league source.
Bowen has been on the hot seat since a mid-October loss to the Denver Broncos, when the Giants gave up a 19-point lead and surrendered a franchise-record 33 points in the fourth quarter. The Athletic’s Dianna Russini reported that the Denver disaster was “the turning point” for Daboll’s tenure in New York.
Three games later, Daboll was fired, and now Bowen’s exit follows less than a month later.
Sunday’s defensive dud against the Lions was the latest in a string of poor showings from Bowen’s side of the ball. The 2025 Giants are the first team in NFL history to allow over 4,000 total yards and 300 points with six or fewer takeaways through the first 11 games of the season.
Bowen’s firing marks the Giants’ third defensive coordinator change in three seasons after the franchise acrimoniously parted ways with Wink Martindale in 2023. Bowen wasn’t the regime’s top coordinator choice to replace Martindale, with Tennessee’s Dennard Wilson, Buffalo’s Bobby Babich and Kansas City’s Brendan Daly considered the top targets at the time. But the Giants ended up going with Bowen, who held the same title with the Titans for three seasons.
As the Giants finished last season 3-11, Bowen came under fire from co-owner John Mara about the team’s defensive identity.
“Quite frankly, I didn’t think our defense played very well this year at all,” Mara said Jan. 6. “I know that when you have an offense that performs like that, you’re putting more pressure on your defense. But we need to make improvements there. I’m tired of watching teams go up and down the field on us.”
While the comments were harped on, the Giants weren’t as statistically bad in 2024 as it seemed. Especially in comparison to the team’s offense. The Giants finished 21st in points allowed. Their offense? They finished 31st in points per game.
Bowen survived the offseason, but cracks in the defense emerged as early as Week 2 after an overtime loss to Dallas. Following the Giants’ Week 5 loss in New Orleans, edge Brian Burns called a players only meeting. That resonated, with the Giants bullying division rival Philadelphia Eagles in Week 6. Bowen’s play calling was celebrated for its aggressive changeup that featured different looks thrown to Jalen Hurts.
But the criticism for Bowen returned after the collapse against the Broncos. While the Giants’ defense dominated for three quarters, it fell apart amid injuries to starting safety Jevon Holland and corner Paulson Adebo. Another play-calling choice came under scrutiny late in the game as Bowen opted to only rush three players on the first snap of the Broncos final and game-winning field goal drive. Broncos QB Bo Nix went deep to Marvin Mims Jr., and CB Dru Phillips — one of seven DBs in play — didn’t react quickly enough as Mims made a 29-yard reception.
Burns was heard yelling about the numbers of defensive backs dropped as he exited the field following the loss, while All Pro DT Dexter Lawrence, who wasn’t on the field, said it wasn’t his call.
The negative spotlight on Bowen never faded from there.
