The New York Giants delivered a brutal shake-up just hours after Donald Trump blasted the team’s late-game decisions, dismissing defensive coordinator Shane Bowen following their meltdown against the Detroit Lions.

New York appeared to be cruising toward a rare win, holding a 27–17 advantage in the fourth quarter, before everything unraveled. Both the offense and defense collapsed, sending the team tumbling to a 2–10 record. A controversial choice to bypass an easy field goal and instead chase a touchdown opened the door for Detroit. The Lions capitalized on the turnover on downs, marched the field, and kicked a game-tying field goal to force overtime.

Detroit completed the comeback with a Jahmyr Gibbs

The New York Giants delivered a brutal shake-up just hours after Donald Trump blasted the team’s late-game decisions, dismissing defensive coordinator Shane Bowen following their meltdown against the Detroit Lions.

New York appeared to be cruising toward a rare win, holding a 27–17 advantage in the fourth quarter, before everything unraveled. Both the offense and defense collapsed, sending the team tumbling to a 2–10 record. A controversial choice to bypass an easy field goal and instead chase a touchdown opened the door for Detroit. The Lions capitalized on the turnover on downs, marched the field, and kicked a game-tying field goal to force overtime.

Detroit completed the comeback with a Jahmyr Gibbs touchdown, sealing a 34–27 victory. The sequence left former President Donald Trump bewildered, especially considering it came so soon after Brian Daboll’s firing amid the team’s ongoing struggles.

On Truth Social, Trump questioned the judgment behind the play-calling, writing:
“Why didn’t the New York Football Giants kick that field goal? Who makes that call? It was CRAZY! I’m watching the end thinking, ‘Going for the touchdown instead of three? That’s weird!’”

The Giants, already in the middle of a major coaching overhaul, acted swiftly. Bowen was removed from his post, continuing the staff reshuffling that began with Daboll’s dismissal. According to the New York Post, interim head coach Mike Kafka has not yet revealed who will take over as defensive coordinator in the short term.

Among the candidates reportedly being evaluated are secondary coach Marquand Manuel—who coordinated the Falcons’ defense in 2017 and 2018—and outside linebackers coach Charlie Bullen.

Tensions didn’t end with Bowen’s firing. Malik Nabers, the second-year receiver who was inactive due to injury, vented online in a since-deleted post on X. He questioned the late-game strategy and even hinted that the team was setting itself up to fail.

“Sometimes I think they’re making us lose on purpose!” he wrote. “How do you throw the ball instead of running it to burn two timeouts? Then you don’t kick the field goal? Then they only need to go down and score! Football common sense! Am I missing something?”

A large portion of the fanbase echoed Nabers’ frustration, although some felt his comments were interpreted too literally. Kafka defended the aggressive call in his postgame comments, saying the goal was to “go up two scores” and that he believed it was the right time to try to extend the lead.

“We wanted to stay aggressive,” Kafka said. “We thought it was a good opportunity to take the points and stretch the margin.”

But the decision backfired badly, as the Giants dropped their sixth straight game and fell to 0–2 under Kafka since he took over for the dismissed Daboll.

The defeat was especially crushing for quarterback Jameis Winston, who had thrown a wayward pass over tight end Theo Johnson’s head on the pivotal fourth-down play. Earlier in the quarter, Winston had delivered one of the most memorable highlights of the year. With the Giants leading 20–17, Kafka dialed up a trick play: Winston handed the ball to Gunner Olszewski on a reverse, then drifted down the sideline as a receiver. Olszewski lobbed a perfect pass back to Winston, who shook off Derrick Barnes with a stiff arm and sliced into the end zone for a spectacular 33-yard score.

Despite the theatrics, the game spiraled away from New York—and Bowen paid the immediate price.

touchdown, sealing a 34–27 victory. The sequence left former President Donald Trump bewildered, especially considering it came so soon after Brian Daboll’s firing amid the team’s ongoing struggles.

On Truth Social, Trump questioned the judgment behind the play-calling, writing:
“Why didn’t the New York Football Giants kick that field goal? Who makes that call? It was CRAZY! I’m watching the end thinking, ‘Going for the touchdown instead of three? That’s weird!’”

The Giants, already in the middle of a major coaching overhaul, acted swiftly. Bowen was removed from his post, continuing the staff reshuffling that began with Daboll’s dismissal. According to the New York Post, interim head coach Mike Kafka has not yet revealed who will take over as defensive coordinator in the short term.

Among the candidates reportedly being evaluated are secondary coach Marquand Manuel—who coordinated the Falcons’ defense in 2017 and 2018—and outside linebackers coach Charlie Bullen.

Tensions didn’t end with Bowen’s firing. Malik Nabers, the second-year receiver who was inactive due to injury, vented online in a since-deleted post on X. He questioned the late-game strategy and even hinted that the team was setting itself up to fail.

“Sometimes I think they’re making us lose on purpose!” he wrote. “How do you throw the ball instead of running it to burn two timeouts? Then you don’t kick the field goal? Then they only need to go down and score! Football common sense! Am I missing something?”

A large portion of the fanbase echoed Nabers’ frustration, although some felt his comments were interpreted too literally. Kafka defended the aggressive call in his postgame comments, saying the goal was to “go up two scores” and that he believed it was the right time to try to extend the lead.

“We wanted to stay aggressive,” Kafka said. “We thought it was a good opportunity to take the points and stretch the margin.”

But the decision backfired badly, as the Giants dropped their sixth straight game and fell to 0–2 under Kafka since he took over for the dismissed Daboll.

The defeat was especially crushing for quarterback Jameis Winston, who had thrown a wayward pass over tight end Theo Johnson’s head on the pivotal fourth-down play. Earlier in the quarter, Winston had delivered one of the most memorable highlights of the year. With the Giants leading 20–17, Kafka dialed up a trick play: Winston handed the ball to Gunner Olszewski on a reverse, then dr9ifted down the sideline as a receiver.%  Olszewski lobbed a perfect pass back to Winston, who shook off Derrick Barnes with a stiff arm and sliced into the end zone for a spectacular 33-yard score.

Despite the theatrics, the game spiraled away from New York—and Bowen paid the immediate price.