Washington Commanders Rival Giants Defense 'Going To Look a Lot Different' in 2024

With new defensive coordinator Shane Bowen in New York the Washington Commanders aren't going to see the same old Giants defense.

Oct 22, 2023; East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA; New York Giants defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence II (97) sacks Washington Commanders quarterback Sam Howell (14) in the first half at MetLife Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Robert Deutsch-USA TODAY Sports / Robert Deutsch-USA TODAY Sports

Former Washington Commanders quarterback Sam Howell is putting the team that drafted him in the rearview mirror as he continues his NFL career with the Seattle Seahawks.

Despite moving from one coast to the other, however, it's not likely he'll shake the memories of his experiences as a Commanders quarterback going up against the New York Giants defense in 2023.

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In two contests against the Giants last season the Washington quarterback was sacked 10 times. Not as much in an individual game as the nine times he was brought down against the Buffalo Bills, but still pretty significant. No other team sacked Howell more, despite both the Philadelphia Eagles and Dallas Cowboys getting two cracks at hiim themselves.

There are plenty of reasons to point fingers at the Commanders themselves for why their quarterback was sacked so much, but there's also the talent on the New York defense that was led by defensive cooridnator Wink Martindale. A problem new Washington quarterback Jayden Daniels won't have to deal with.

And it turns out, under new coordinator Shane Bowen, the Giants defense will have some familiar faces, but have a different look according to Patricia Traina of the Locked On Giants podcast.

Oct 22, 2023; East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA; New York Giants defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence II (97) sacks Washington Commanders quarterback Sam Howell (14) in the first half at MetLife Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Robert Deutsch-USA TODAY Sports / Robert Deutsch-USA TODAY Sports

"Martindale, when he was here, lived and died by the blitz, it was, 'I'm going to die on this hill, and if we succeed, great. If we don't, well, I'm just going to bring it again.' Shane Bowen, the new defensive coordinator, is taking a slightly different approach. "

- Patricia Traina, Locked On Giants

"I think it's going to look a lot different, actually," Traina said on the Locked On Commanders podcast. "Martindale, when he was here, lived and died by the blitz, it was, 'I'm going to die on this hill, and if we succeed, great. If we don't, well, I'm just going to bring it again.' Shane Bowen, the new defensive coordinator, is taking a slightly different approach. He's defining aggressive or being aggressive differently and that you can be aggressive with your play call. You don't have to necessarily blitz the heck out of a quarterback every single time. You don't have to get fancy...

"Shane Bowen (will have) a little different approach with the scheme. He wants to get pressure with the front seven, which is how you want it to be, and I think a big reason for that, not only is that how Shane Bowen is kind of operated all along, but the Giants have a very young secondary, and that's probably where the biggest question mark is right now for me."

Blitzing in the NFL isn't exactly rare, but the rate the New York defense did it was unique. And it created the natural concern of leaving too few coverage players in play in case an opposing offense was able to get off a pass attempt.

The idea was that either an opponent would take a sack or throw the ball away, be forced into an inaccurate throw leading to an incompletion or interception, or be forced to look short where the remaining players beyond the line of scrimmage could rally to the ball.

Against the Commanders it worked like a charm. But it doesn't always. And that appears to be where Bowen is going to be a bit different in that he'll blitz, but not as aggressively and he'll leave more defenders in coverage to better spread out his assets.

According to Sports Info Solutions, Martindale called blitzes 46 percent of the time. Second-most among all NFL defensive play-callers and one spot behind Minnesota Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores who came as close to a 50/50 split as anyone could.

Bowen was the defensive coordinator and play-caller for the Tennessee Titans last season and blitzed just 19 percent of the time, ranking 26th in the NFL. Of course, he didn't have the stable of weapons Martindale did and they've since added elite edge rusher Brian Burns to the mix as well.

So that number is likely to go up, but it still won't look anywhere close to what Washington saw from the Giants defense last season.

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