There’s losing to the San Francisco 49ers, and then there’s letting Mac Jones turn MetLife Stadium into his own personal redemption tour. The New York Giants managed the latter on Sunday, and in doing so, they may have finally answered a question that’s been lingering for way too long: when does accountability actually start?
Three straight losses. Three straight games giving up 30-plus points. Three straight weeks of watching a rookie quarterback, Jaxson Dart, hang out to dry while the defense collapses. It’s becoming unwatchable and infuriating. You could set your watch to how predictable this team has become.
The 34-24 loss to San Fran looks much closer than it was. Talk about another indictment of defensive coordinator Shane Bowen, whose unit couldn’t stop running back Christian McCaffrey, couldn’t tackle, and apparently didn’t get the memo that the Niners’ top two receivers were out. Oh, and so was their starting quarterback, Brock Purdy.
Instead, they turned Jones into Joe Montana for an afternoon — 19-of-24, 235 yards, two touchdowns, and a 135.2 passer rating.
Giants can’t keep pretending Shane Bowen’s defense is fixable
At some point, this stops being about personnel. The G-Men have too much invested on defense to be this bad. Yet Bowen’s defense ranks near the bottom in every major category, including against the run, where they’re giving up close to 150 yards a game and 5.5 yards per carry.
That’s not exactly a talent issue — that’s just coaching malpractice.
Bowen was supposed to bring the hard-nosed, disciplined run defense he showed while with the Tennessee Titans. Instead, fans have gotten missed assignments, busted coverages, and a defense that lacks effort and has no sense of gap concepts.
Related: Shane Bowen’s grip on Giants’ defense somehow looks even worse after Week 9 loss
It’s not exaggeration — in 25 games as New York’s coordinator, his group has surrendered 30 or more points eight times. That’s nearly a third of his tenure spent looking lost.
And while head coach Brian Daboll might survive the season on offensive potential alone, his defensive coordinator shouldn't. Two weeks ago, it was Denver, where the defense gave up 33 points in the fourth quarter. Then came Philadelphia, a 38-point reminder that nothing changed. And now 34 more points given up to QB2.
You can only get relentlessly embarrassed weekly for so long before someone gets the clipboard pulled.
If Big Blue is serious about building something sustainable, it can’t keep hiding behind excuses. Bowen’s system doesn’t work — it never really has. Sunday was way more confirmation than any sort of wake-up call. The Giants didn’t just lose to the 49ers — they might’ve found their next coaching vacancy in the process.