The New York Giants defense will look different under Shane Bowen than it did under Wink Martindale, but that doesn’t mean it will be any less aggressive.
Like his predecessor, Bowen is determined to play fast and physical football. The notable change is that he prefers to generate pressure organically as opposed to relying so heavily on exotic blitzes.
“I’m hoping it’s going to be speed and aggressiveness,” Bowen told Shaun O’Hara this week. “Regardless of scheme — everybody’s going to have scheme, we’re going to have plenty of scheme — but I want to make sure our guys are lined up, they know what to do, and they can play fast and aggressive ultimately. I want to maximize their abilities.
“I don’t want to paralyze them before the ball is even snapped by overthinking. They’re all here for a reason. God has blessed them with the skill set to be here. I want to make sure we can maximize that skillset and they’re able to maximize that skillset. But hopefully (it will be) fast, aggressive, you’ll see some violence from us and ultimately guys making plays.”
Instead of relying on the secondary to get after the quarterback, Bowen intends to rely on their coverage ability to help the front seven. It then becomes the job of those guys up front to create a new line of scrimmage.
Another key component of Bowen’s style is a solid run defense. The cornerbacks and safeties will be relied upon to make key tackles, sometimes in the open field — something the Giants struggled with a season ago.
“To me, I think it starts with play style, demeanor, what we want to be defensively. You think run game, you think physicality, you think toughness, and that’s what we want to be at all levels. . . It’s great to stop the run, but you better be able to affect the quarterback just the same,” Bowen said. “So, finding that balance and just (having) the attacking mentality where we’re getting off the ball, trying to play on the other side of the line scrimmage, and then in that regard, if it is a pass, you’re already on your way.
“You’ve got guys at the second level, at the third level, who can make those guys up front right a lot of times in the run game. We’re going to let those guys go and hopefully we’ll be a little bit more aggressive, attacking, and creating a new line of scrimmage and guys fitting off of them.”
This approach should help the Giants increase their pass rush productivity by a significant margin, but the secondary — specifically, the cornerbacks — will have to play much better in coverage than they did a year ago.
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