One Giants play showed Mike Kafka’s lost faith in Shane Bowen
NY Post
It is a matter of trust, and when it no longer exists, it is time for a change.
Mike Kafka did not admit this on another Bloody Monday for the Giants. The interim head coach was not going to come out and say he no longer trusted Shane Bowen as the defensive coordinator of a team that does not actually defend much of anything. The closest Kafka came to a critique was this: “The results just weren’t where we wanted them to be’’
Kafka’s actions in the 34-27 overtime loss in Detroit on Sunday spoke louder than anything he had to say after he made it official a day later that he could no longer trust Bowen’s defense. By turning his back on the analytics that offered a “very strong’’ recommendation to kick a field goal that would have put the Giants ahead 30-24 with just under three minutes remaining in regulation, Kafka essentially announced that he did not believe Bowen’s unit could defend 65 or 70 yards and keep the Lions — with only one timeout remaining — out of the end zone to prevent a 31-30 loss. That Kafka felt — understandably so — that the odds were higher that Jameis Winston could get the offense in the end zone on fourth-and-goal from the 6-yard line than the defense could make a stop is all the evidence necessary that a change had to happen.
Kafka is in his role because a few Mondays ago, ownership decided to fire Brian Daboll with the Giants sitting at 2-8 because their defense was incapable of holding onto a fourth-quarter lead in Chicago. Since then, the Giants are 0-2 under Kafka. In his debut, the Giants took a 20-19 lead on the Packers with 7:22 left to play and Bowen’s brigade coughed it up in 3 minutes, 20 seconds, giving up a seven-play, 65-yard drive.
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