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New York Giants defensive coordinator Shane Bowen Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

Bobby Okereke Backs Embattled Giants Defensive Boss

Originally posted on New York Giants on SI
By Geoff Magliocchetti | Last updated Oct 21, 2025 2:00 PM ET

New York Giants linebacker Bobby Okereke encouraged observers seeking to oust defensive coordinator Shane Bowen to hold their horses.

Bowen is one of several embattled blue parties facing the heat after the Giants endured one of the most heartbreaking collapses in recent NFL memory, as his unit let up 33 points over the final 15 minutes of a 33-32 defeat to the Denver Broncos on Sunday.

Denver set an NFL record for most fourth-quarter points by a team that had been shut out in the first three games.

Considering the Giants (2-5) dropped a similarly styled game in Dallas earlier this season, some have called for Bowen to be the sacrifice in the name of stabilizing a rollercoaster campaign.

Okereke, however, backed Bowen upon the Giants' return to East Rutherford, where they'll prepare for another Sunday challenge against the Philadelphia Eagles (1 p.m. ET, FOX).

"We’re all hands-on deck; we're all bought in," Okereke said, claiming the team supports Bowen 100 percent.

"Everyone's got to look at the man in the mirror. It's easier to point the finger, but from a team perspective, it's better to point the thumb and figure out what I can do better as an individual. So, that's what we're all about to do, and we're excited for this upcoming opportunity.

Anne-Marie Caruso/NorthJersey.com / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

"We have great trust and conviction in Shane," Okereke continued. "I thought he put us in a great situation to execute in that situation.

"Just us as players, obviously in the fourth quarter, got to have that aggressive mindset to be more detailed and just understand how they're going to attack us in those critical situations because it's, it's one play here or there that'll turn the tide of the game."

Bowen is working through his second season as the Giants' defensive overseer after holding the same position in Tennessee for the prior three years.

Entering Week 8, New York ranks 29th in yards surrendered per game and has forced just five turnovers.

The Denver dramatics should only raise the pressure as the Giants continue to spin their wheels defensively and, more or less, negate the momentum that the rookie backfield battery of quarterback Jaxson Dart and running back Cam Skattebo has built on their side of the ball.

Metropolitan minds certainly hope that rock bottom emerged in the Rockies, the defeat sufficiently defined by a video of exiting linebacker Brian Burns angrily questioning why the Giants dropped eight in the latter stages of the game after raising the aggressiveness en route to the fateful three-possession lead that was lost.

Okereke likewise stood up for Burns, defending his rant as a positive in the long run.

"I think that's positive for us as a team to get those frustrations and emotions out," Okereke analyzed.

"We, as grown men, have the accountability to get better. We talked about it today. It's not one player, one coach, one position group. Everybody really had their hands in the pot in this loss.

“It's really just that aggressiveness of having the details to finish and having the urgency to finish because these games are going to come down to one score or less, and you've got to win in the fourth quarter."