In essentially the most attempting instances of the Giants' season, Brian Daboll resisted the general public outcry to fireplace Shane Bowen.
That loyalty wasn't misplaced on Bowen, who fell on the sword Thursday for the 4 blown double-digit leads that contributed to Daboll's firing earlier this week.
“There's a accountability that falls on me,” Bowen stated. “We haven't been adequate defensively, notably closing out video games. Evaluating every thing — scheme, personnel, totally different conditions. We've got to search out methods to win these video games and never give it up within the fourth.”
Interim head coach Mike Kafka is a former NFL quarterback, quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator who instantly finds himself standing behind the defensive huddle in practices.
In different phrases, Kafka, in his audition to be a head coach, isn't performing like he's solely chargeable for one aspect of the ball.
“From an operation standpoint, he'll convey his presence round. He's there,” linebacker Bobby Okereke stated. “He's ensuring guys' communication is as much as par. He's ensuring, pre-snap, our huddle operation is nice, and if it's not, he's having us to do it over. He's type of simply stamping requirements and benchmarks we have to make.”
Maybe simply Kafka's sense of calm will make an impression on the sidelines the subsequent time that the Giants are mid-meltdown. The fiery Daboll all the time was one play from combusting because the Giants surrendered leads after the two-minute warning to the Cowboys, Broncos and Bears.
And Kafka? Dexter Lawrence has shared a constructing with him for 4 years however didn't know a lot about his new head coach's persona.
“I needed to ask one of many coaches, ‘Does he have one?' ” Lawrence quipped. “However I'm nonetheless studying. It's totally different since you by no means hear from him, now you hear from him on a regular basis, so I'm adjusting.”
On a regular basis? Is Kafka drawing up new blitzes and suggesting personnel adjustments?
Not fairly.
“He's roaming over to the protection, throwing little jabs and little feedback on the defensive position,” Lawrence stated. “Simply giving us a bit of additional juice, simply difficult the protection every day in several methods, and it's quite a lot of respect.”
In his first feedback as interim head coach, Kafka teased “some minor little tweaks that we'd do all through the week to make it extra environment friendly and to scrub up some communication stuff” on protection. Although he was Daboll's assistant head coach, Kafka wasn't aware about these Daboll-Bowen conversations.
“I don't know if it's going to be something drastic,” Bowen stated. “The foremost emphasis for us is discovering methods to be at our greatest when it issues most.”
Kafka opted towards making any type of huge change on the opposite aspect of the ball just like when Jets interim head coach Jeff Ulbrich switched offensive play-callers from Nathaniel Hackett to Todd Downing final season.
Giants defensive position coach Andre Patterson and inside linebackers coach John Egorugwu are four-year members of the employees, like Kafka. And secondary coach Marquand Manuel is a former play-calling defensive coordinator for the Falcons.
Too many adjustments directly might be damning, because the Jets discovered beneath Ulbrich.
“We've bought the identical scheme, similar coordinator,” Brian Burns stated. “Every thing is just about the identical so far as the sport plan.”
Daboll employed Bowen after he turned obtainable when the Titans fired Mike Vrabel after the 2023 season. He retained Bowen after final season regardless of Giants proprietor John Mara's harsh criticisms of the protection, although there was a situation floated contained in the constructing during which Bowen might've wound up reuniting with Vrabel in New England and the Giants might've landed Colts defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo, sources instructed The Publish.
Bowen stated he “can't say sufficient good issues about [Daboll] as a pacesetter.”
The most important problem within the Kafka-Bowen present may very well be getting the protection to play properly Sunday towards the Packers with 5 defensive starters — Okereke, cornerback Paulson Adebo, edge Kayvon Thibodeaux, defensive deal with Rakeem Nunez-Roches and security Tyler Nubin — listed on the harm report.
“Whenever you have a look at what we've achieved on protection, it's simply persevering with the mindset all through the entire recreation,” security Dane Belton stated. “There's nothing we now have to do this's out of our realm — or one thing we haven't achieved but. No matter Kafka relays to Shane, we're on board so long as we're in a position to assault and end the fourth quarter.”
