He hasn’t been shy about expressing his feelings about the state of the New York Giants’ defense, but edge-rusher Brian Burns wants to set the record straight about defensive coordinator Shane Bowen.
Burns appeared to call out Bowen’s play-calling in the immediate aftermath of the Giants collapsing to lose 33-32 against the Denver Broncos in Week 7. Yet, the NFL’s leader in sacks is keen to make it clear “People took that tunnel video all outta context.. I wasn’t mad at Shane nor the call..”
The reference to what happened in the tunnel was about Burns voicing his frustration the Giants dropped eight into coverage and still surrendered a 29-yard completion in the dying seconds. Burns provided more clarity by explaining “he was exasperated overall by the loss. The “drop eight” comment was about being shocked that Denver completed that pass despite them having eight guys in coverage. He said he supports DC Shane Bowen,” according to Dan Duggan of The Athletic.
Duggan also noted Burns is adamant he’ll play against NFC East rivals the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 8. The outside linebacker has a hip injury, but he still expects to suit up at Lincoln Financial Field on Sunday, October 26.
Bowen will need Burns healthy and fully motivated if the Giants are going to make amends for last week’s defensive horror show. Burns’ ability to put heat on the pocket will help, but there’ll be no revival on defense without Bowen making better use of his best personnel.
Brian Burns Clearing Up Mixed Messages About Shane Bowen
The apparent outburst by Burns following the Giants’ epic fourth quarter capitulation in Denver, went against what the veteran had said days earlier. Burns had praised Bowen for calling more aggressive schemes during the win over the Eagles on Thursday Night Football.
Bowen sent pressure in numbers and moved his pass-rushers around more often. The changes worked to stymie the Eagles and quarterback Jalen Hurts, but Bowen reverted to a more passive brand of defense when the Giants led the Broncos by 19 in the fourth quarter.
Calling vanilla coverage structures and rushing just three or four put the Giants on the back foot against Broncos playmakers salivating to seize momentum. The standoffish approach left Bowen open to criticism, but X’s and O’s weren’t his only issue.
Giants Defense Needs Its Best Players in Clutch Moments
Bowen needs to get back to basics, namely, the art of putting his best players in the best situations to make plays when the Giants need them most. That didn’t happen at Empower Field at Mile High, when All-Pro nose tackle Dexter Lawrence II wasn’t on the field to prevent Broncos’ quarterback Bo Nix finding wide receiver Marvin Mims Jr. for 29 yards to accelerate what proved to be the game-winning drive.
Lawrence is the most dominant member of Big Blue’s front seven, so his absence in a key moment was a mystery. Bowen didn’t exactly clarify things when he “took responsibility for not having Dexter Lawrence on the field for the critical completion to start Denver’s game-winning drive. Bowen didn’t provide an explanation for why Lawrence wasn’t on the field, however,” per Duggan.
Getting Lawrence onto the field in the clutch should be elementary for Bowen. So should turning Burns loose, provided he’s at 100 percent.
The player with nine sacks to his credit had been dealing with a foot injury not expected to land him on injured reserve, but a hip problem kept Burns out of practice on Thursday, according to Giants.com Managing Editor Dan Salomone.
A full contingent of his marquee game-wreckers would make Bowen’s job easier against the Eagles. It would also leave the play-caller with no excuses if the Giants continue to falter on a side of the ball that should be a team strength.
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