Giants DC Shane Bowen makes shocking admission about Brian Daboll’s firing ahead of Packers matchup

The New York Giants are preparing for their first matchup without head coach Brian Daboll this Sunday against the Green Bay Packers. There have been several significant changes this week, from Mike Kafka taking over as the interim head coach to Jameis Winston filling in for Jaxson Dart.

Ironically, despite all of the changes, one situation remains the same. The defensive coordinator is inexplicably still Shane Bowen despite the defense's many failures this year. When speaking with the media today, Bowen recognized his responsibility in the firing of Daboll.

"Has done a lot for me, I’ve learned a lot from him," Bowen told reporters, "Really can't say enough good things about him as a leader and what he's meant to me over these past two years. And wish him nothing but the best. There's responsibility that falls on me. We haven't been good enough defensively, particularly closing out games."

Shane Bowen addresses potential adjustments

The Giants' defense this year has significantly underperformed despite having elite talent at numerous positions. This season, the Giants are 29th in yards allowed per game and 27th in points allowed per game. The most egregious issue has been multiple blown fourth-quarter leads, including one last week against the Chicago Bears.

The blame for the defensive struggles is obvious. Bowen's playcalling and decision-making late in games have been highly questionable. It was a growing source of frustration for the fan base. Many were calling for his firing or for the defensive play-calling duties to be taken away from him.

Ultimately, Daboll's stubborn refusal to make any change in that regard led to his firing. Not being willing to adjust was clearly hurting the team. Now Daboll is out, and for some reason Bowen remains, and he's still calling the defense plays.

It's easy to expect more of the same problems and failures over the remaining games this season. Bowen said he plans to make changes this week, albeit not any major ones.

"I don't know if it's going to be anything drastic. I mean, there's obviously things we need to do a little bit differently," Bowen stated, "Obviously, game day is most important, but that's throughout the week as well, right? Just the process throughout the week, what that looks like to be able to get us to game day and then be able to go out there and perform on game day. So I don't know if there's going to be anything drastic, but there will be some things that we're adjusting as we go."

What's perplexing is why it took this long to adjust how they're preparing for games throughout the week? Is it now that there's an increased urgency with his clock ticking in New York? Overall, it's head-scratching that he waited until his boss got fired before deciding it was time to pivot.

This story was originally reported by A to Z Sports on Nov 13, 2025, where it first appeared in the NFL section. Add A to Z Sports as a Preferred Source by clicking here.