Just before he offered the Giants defensive coordinator job to Shane Bowen, head coach Brian Daboll asked him one final question.
“Can you get our run defense to look like this, please?”
The annual success that Bowen’s scheme had stopping the run with the Titans has not carried over to the Giants, who are tied for last in the league with 5.4 yards allowed per carry and ranked No. 25 with 138.1 rushing yards allowed per game.
“We have to have a more attacking mentality,” Bowen said. “Playing on the other side of the line of scrimmage, finding ways to eliminate some space, making sure we’re playing with techniques and fundamentals and using our hands.
“You have to be able to change the math at times and [have] guys take on two blockers and steal some bodies that way to be able to make things right. Or else you’re counting on having to fit everything up perfectly every single time.”
The Steelers, who host the Giants on Monday night, attempt the second-most rushes per game. If the Giants are playing from behind, it’s a formula for disaster.
“We have to eliminate some of those explosives and continue to improve on tackling. But that’s a challenge every week,” Daboll said. “How the game’s going is also part of that as well. We have to do a good job on early downs of building walls [and] setting edges, but it’s a complementary game, too, where they just can’t keep running the ball if they’re up whatever they are up.”
Of course, Bowen wasn’t able to bring the Titans defensive line personnel with him to lessen the amount of double- and triple-teams thrown at All-Pro Dexter Lawrence.
The Giants are paying for not replacing defensive tackles Leonard Williams and A’Shawn Robinson from last season’s team — they are No. 30 in rushing yards allowed per carry up the middle (5.64).
It’s not much better when the offense runs off the right guard (ranked No. 29, 6 per carry), right tackle (No. 27, 5.31) or to the right end at cornerback (No. 32, 8.56).
“Your toughness is defined by how you run the ball and how you stop the run,” Bowen said. “There are a lot of good clips in there. But [when] you give up three for 133 yards, it gets skewed dramatically.”
The Eagles ripped off four runs of 15 yards or more and seven of 12 or more against the Giants last week.
“They had a really good scheme that we didn’t adjust to,” linebacker Bobby Okereke said. “It’s a chess game, and they beat us in those matchups.”
In that analogy, Daboll is hoping that Bowen’s scheme starts to be the Giants’ rook.
