It’s never been more obvious the Giants need to make another coaching change after their Week 12 overtime collapse to the Lions
The New York Giants blew another fourth quarter lead and it’s time to move on from Shane Bowen.
Another week, and another New York Giants fourth-quarter blown lead. Today’s 34-27 loss to the Detroit Lions marks the fifth blown lead for New York this season.
While there can be multiple reasons to attribute the late loss to the Lions, it couldn’t be clearer that defensive coordinator Shane Bowen needs to be relieved of his duties or have play-calling taken away. That has been a demand of the Giants fan base since September, and it begs the question of what’s preventing New York from making a change.
Time to move on from Shane Bowen
The Giants had the ball with 6:54 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter and were well-positioned to run down the clock and win the game with a 27-24 lead. A massive 39-yard pass by Jameis Winston to Theo Johnson on third down and 17 extended the drive when it appeared to have stalled. Eventually, Devin Singletary was stopped for a four-yard loss on third and 2, prompting a difficult decision for head coach Mike Kafka.
The loss could be traced to the decision to go for it on fourth down rather than kicking a field goal to extend the lead to six. However, considering how often Bowen has cowered in the final minutes, Kafka made the right decision not to trust his defensive coordinator. Kicking the field goal also would have given the Lions a shorter field to march down instead of having to go 94 yards. Kafka stated that the team needs to find ways to finish.
“I think we had an opportunity at the end of the game and took a really good team to overtime,” Kafka told the media. “We’ve got to find a way to finish those games.”
If anything, testing Bowen with less than three minutes to go to see if he could finally get a stop was an appropriate opportunity for him to redeem himself. Instead, the Lions marched down to kick a game-tying field goal. Not long after, the Giants’ defense surrendered a 69-yard Jahmyr Gibbs rushing touchdown on the opening play of overtime.
The blown fourth-quarter lead wasn’t the only failure by Bowen. The Giants’ run defense was also gashed again, this time allowing a whopping 237 yards and 11.9 yards per rush.
The Giants have two wins and have officially been eliminated from playoff contention. Firing Shane Bowen on Monday won’t exactly save the Giants’ season. However, after Giants fans have been beaten down all year by frustrating defensive performances, they can’t allow Bowen to hold onto his role. Out of principle, they need to make a change. At least they can let a different coach prove if they have the skills to call plays in the remaining games on the schedule.
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