The New York Giants have a new defensive coordinator this season — former Tennessee Titans DC Shane Bowen, and he has a different approach to paying defense than his predecessor, Wink Martindale.
Bowen will not stress pressure like Martindale did but will focus on overall aggressiveness. He explained his strategy to reporters on Wednesday as the team prepared for the regular season opener against Minnesota this Sunday.
“I want these guys to attack,” Bowen said. “I want them to have an attacking mentality with everything they do, whether it’s attacking the line of scrimmage up front, playing with our hands, leading with our hands, being violent with our hands.
“Whether it’s linebackers getting downhill violently, physical, DBs getting out of breaks, showing up in the run game, staying on their feet, tackling, putting their chest on guys. It’s a play style. You play defensive football, I don’t care if it’s Pee Wee or if it’s up to the NFL, when you play defensive football, there’s an expectation of physicality, toughness, aggression and being aggressive throughout. Totally different than scheme and what that is and where that goes, but it’s more about play style to me.”
Bowen has a solid track record, especially against the run where the Titans allowed the fewest yards per game (76.9) in 2022. Under Martindale, the Giants were in the bottom quadrant of the league in that category.
The Giants were 28th in sacks last year under Martindale’s pressure schemes. The Titans were 15th under Bowen last season.
The Giants will have more firepower on defense this season, especially in their front seven. Bowen will let his stars, such as Dexter Lawrence, Brian Burns, and Kayvon Thibodeaux, lead by example.
This week, we’ll finally see this dynamic trio in action.
