Charlie Bullen has a simple theory in mind for his debut as Giants defensive coordinator.
“I understand fully that it’s a player-driven league, so my philosophy is always, ‘Players over plays,’ ” Bullen said before Friday’s practice. “How can we, as coaches, maximize our players’ abilities and put them in position to have success?”
Bullen was elevated from outside linebackers coach earlier this week when defensive coordinator Shane Bowen was fired. The matchup against the Patriots on “Monday Night Football” will mark his first time calling plays at any level.
So, what will the scheme look like?
Should the Broncos — ranked top 3 in the NFL in total defense and scoring defense — be considered a blueprint because Bowen spent five seasons under coordinator Vance Joseph, whose calling cards are aggressiveness and pre-snap disguise?
“It might be,” Bullen said with a sly grin. “Vance is a great friend and a big mentor of mine. We talked quite a bit even before this type of thing. He’s influenced me, for sure.”
The two things that Bullen needs to figure out are how to stop the run — the Giants rank last in the league (157.2 yards allowed per game) — and how to close out games (NFL record-tying five blown double-digit leads).
The most noticeable change to practice was Wednesday’s “collective staff idea” to emphasize a tackling circuit where defensive line coach Dre Patterson and assistant defensive line coach Bryan Cox worked with everyone on rotation, including defensive backs. The Giants are allowing 8.2 yards per carry around the left end and 11.4 yards per carry off right tackle.
“If you look at any of the big runs this year, it’s a combination of scheme — are we getting aligned correctly and are we getting the adjustments communicated? — and it’s also technique and fundamentals,” Bullen said, “as well as making or missing tackles.”
The Giants added unscripted plays to Friday’s practice (and plan to do the same in the red zone Saturday) so that Bullen gets comfortable making “live” calls on all downs. He will match wits against one of the NFL’s great offensive coordinators (Josh McDaniels) on Monday.
“Try and bank some reps for him,” interim head coach Mike Kafka said, “but he’s been around ball for a long time. It’s just about cutting it loose and playing the calls that he loves and the players are confident with.”
Bullen’s energy is noticeable on the practice field, but he wasn’t wearing shoulder pads alongside his edge rushers Friday, as he has in the past. He has more to oversee as Bowen’s successor.
“My first thoughts were with Shane,” Bullen said. “As a man, I felt for him and felt, having been a part of his staff, a personal responsibility and disappointment that we didn’t do better for him.”
Bullen has coached Brian Burns to a career-high 13 sacks and Kayvon Thibodeaux’s development into a more well-rounded edge, but Abdul Carter hasn’t had the kind of game-wrecking rookie season that was anticipated.
Could he find ways to get all three former first-round picks on the field together more often once Thibodeaux returns from injury? Will he get Dexter Lawrence back to playing a larger percentage of snaps over the center? Will he make lineup changes and bench underachievers when effort is in question?
“At this point, it’s hard to make wholesale change — not that I’d do that anyway,” Bullen said. “We’ve got years and months of time on task in this scheme. I think we can tweak and alter.”
The question is whether the fourth-quarter results will change after blowing fourth-quarter leads in three straight games.
“That’s something we have to fix,” Bullen said. “If you want to win games, you have to finish. Where can we schematically make sure that these guys can execute the call so that their plate is as clean as possible before the ball is snapped? If that’s an issue, we have to help them as coaches. Guys have to do their job — when they have a chance to make a play, they have to make it.”
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
