Five blown double-digit leads isn’t bad luck; it’s a pattern that just cost a coach his job. After the Giants lost to the Lions, something had to change. Two weeks into his tenure as the interim head coach, Mike Kafka made the call. Defensive coordinator Shane Bowen was out. But according to recent news, Kafka may not have been the only one involved in the decision.

“Mike Kafka says he consulted with #Giants GM Joe Schoen about both decisions: the one to fire Shane Bowen and the one to name interim DC Charlie Bullen,” NFL columnist Pat Leonard recently reported. “Kafka says the decision to fire Bowen was his, but obviously, this is a collaborative operation. Always has been.”

The decision had come after a poor run. Five blown double-digit leads. Five fourth-quarter collapses. When the New York Giants conceded 7 unanswered points to the Detroit Lions on Sunday, something had to give.

“These decisions aren’t easy,” Kafka said Monday. “Shane’s a good person. He’s a good man; he’s a good coach. Just the results weren’t what we wanted them to be.”

After the Week 12 disaster against the Lions, the verdict was clear. Time for a change. Kafka consulted with GM Joe Schoen before pulling the trigger, but he made it clear, this was his call.

“When I got the job, I didn’t want to make a lot of rash decisions,” Kafka further explained. “I wanted to have some time to sit back, evaluate, and kind of figure out what the best thing to do was. … wanted to be calculated in how I handled it. I thought today was the right time.”

Shane Bowen’s schemes, with all the hype from former head coach Brian Daboll, haven’t been able to unlock the defense’s full potential.

“There is so much talent on that defensive side of the ball. To have them rank dead last in run defense, just very little production from some of their best players not named,” Giants insider Connor Hughes assessed the conering locker-room situation. “Kayvon Thibodeaux has been a disappointment … Dexter Lawrence has not had a sack now in a full season’s worth of game, Abdul Carter has just a half-sack on the Season.”

Mike Kafka, on the other hand, has shown offensive promise in his first two games as the interim HC. If his offense keeps putting up points, he could stay in consideration for the permanent gig come January. But he couldn’t let Daboll’s biggest mistake tank his audition.

The locker room needed a change in defense. Five blown leads in a season don’t just cost wins; they cost belief. Players start wondering if the next collapse is inevitable. That’s where things were heading.

“I’m just tired of losing these games. Very, very tired of losing these games,” Right tackle Jermaine Eluemunor summed it up after Week 12:

And now, it’s Charlie Bullen’s turn to spark the defense.

Can new DC Charlie Bullen fix the Giants’ leaky defense?

Charlie Bullen wasn’t exactly the obvious pick for the job. The Giants have former defensive coordinators on staff (Marquand Manuel and Andre Patterson) with way more play-calling experience. But Mike Kafka went with his outside linebackers coach anyway.

“I got a lot of faith in Charlie,” Kafka noted. “He’s going to step up for us and rally the group. The defensive staff will rally around Charlie and put together a great plan.”

The biggest reason for this move might be that the players respect Bullen a lot. In a moment where the losses could be getting to the players, it helps to command respect in the locker room. 

“Charlie Bullen has been a great asset to me and the rest of the guys in the room,” Thibodeaux said back in August, praising Bullen’s impact on his development. “I think it’s the consistency of greatness. It’s understanding that, ‘Yeah, you know it, but let’s go over it three more times.’ I think it’s that 10,00-hour mindset.”

Bullen brings 12 years of NFL experience and credibility earned under names like Vance Joseph and Matt Burke. That matters in a locker room that’s been bleeding confidence all season.

It is certainly interesting that the Giants waited two weeks to make this move. They perhaps wanted Kafka to get familiar with the defensive staff before making a blind call. Smart call, even if the timing feels late for a 2-10 team.

To be fair, the season feels like it’s already over for the Giants. Playoffs seem like a fantasy at this point. For Kafka and Bullen, two interim coaches auditioning for bigger roles, these final games mean everything; if they win, they might stick around.

The question now is if Charlie Bullen can spark something Shane Bowen couldn’t? The next game against the New England Patriots will show us if this defense can finally stop giving up leads.