It’s time to have the uncomfortable Shane Bowen conversation. They might want to leave him in Denver. The New York Giants’ defensive coordinator won’t be sleeping well tonight after blowing an 18-point fourth-quarter lead with less than six minutes remaining, in an epic 33-32 collapse against the Denver Broncos in Week 7.
Related: 6 key takeaways from Jaxson Dart’s rollercoaster Week 7 collapse vs Broncos
It’s inexcusable, and it’s becoming clearer by the week that he’s getting in the way of this team taking the next step. If you were wondering how teams typically fare when they’re up 18 with under six minutes left, history suggests it’s a guaranteed win. That’s because it’s happened 1,062 times before, and every single time, they win the game. Well, consider it the G-Men making history as the first team to ever blow a lead that big with that little time remaining. Yay, history.
NFL teams had won 1,602 consecutive games when leading by 18 points in the final six minutes of a game, per the @NFLonCBS broadcast
— Pat Leonard (@PLeonardNYDN) October 19, 2025
Head coach Brian Daboll understood just how big a disaster it was. The cameras caught him lighting up Bowen on the sideline after the defense let Denver walk down the field to steal the game. There was no sugarcoating it. No coachspeak coming. It was brutal — and deserved.
Shane Bowen just delivered the worst defensive collapse in NFL history
This wasn’t one busted coverage. This wasn’t some fluke. This was a total system failure. Thirty-three points allowed in a single quarter. Three touchdowns in the span of five minutes. And a game-losing field goal after the offense had just taken the lead with 37 seconds left.
It all points back to the same place.
Bowen’s defense looked lost. Broncos quarterback Bo Nix started the fourth quarter with 83 passing yards. He finished with 223 and two scores. The tackling fell off a cliff. The coverage busted wide open. No answers. No adjustments. Just a freefall at altitude.
And it erased everything the Giants had built — a dominant first three quarters, a pretty stellar performance from rookie quarterback sensation Jaxson Dart, and a win over a playoff-caliber team that would’ve changed the entire tone of the season. Now, it’s back to the drawing board.
It’s hard to imagine Bowen walks away from this one unscathed. Not after that. And with a Week 5 rematch in Philadelphia awaiting Big Blue, some tough internal conversations are probably already happening. Whether it’s a schematic shake-up, a shift in responsibilities, or just a good old-fashioned wake-up call, something’s got to change — fast.