Monday night, the New York Giants and Pittsburgh Steelers will face off at Acrisure Stadium in a game of teams seemingly headed in opposite directions. While the 5-2 Steelers have done quite a bit better than the 2-5 Giants, there will be several interesting matchups. Most of those will take place on the field. However, the showdown between Giants defensive coordinator Shane Bowen, and Steelers offensive coordinator Arthur Smith, could take center stage.
This sets up to be a pretty decent showdown. The Giants’ defense hasn’t been great this year, but it hasn’t been bad either. While New York has struggled to defend the run, it has quietly been one of the best teams in the league against the pass. The Giants have allowed just 1,256 passing yards, ninth-fewest in the NFL. On the other hand, the Steelers have been very average on offense, as evidenced by their 161 points scored, 14th-most in the league. They have picked things up a bit recently scoring 32 and 37 points in their last two games.
These units are set to match up evenly, so it’s only fitting that the two coordinators happen to know each other pretty well. Bowen spoke a bit about that during his press conference on Friday.
“I mean, I spent a lot of time with (Smith),” Bowen said. “Really good football coach, really smart. Got a lot of respect for him and what he’s been able to do in this league. Really our time in Tennessee was very successful there. Just the mentality that he brings to the offense, right? They’re gonna run the ball, we know that, and they’re gonna have their action passes off of that.”
Bowen references the time the two spent together as members of the Tennessee Titans’ coaching staff. Smith started there back in 2011, as a defensive quality control coach. He eventually coached tight ends until 2019 when he became the Titans’ offensive coordinator. Bowen got there in 2018, as an outside linebackers coach, before eventually becoming the defensive coordinator in 2021.
The two ended up being on the same staff for a total of three years, so it’s no surprise that they know each other pretty well. Bowen mentions that he knows Smith likes to run the ball and use play-action off that. That’s something Smith has done throughout his career — and something that will likely continue with Russell Wilson and his deep ball now starting at quarterback.
The Steelers hold the overall advantage come Monday night. However, the matching of wits between these two coordinators could be one of the most interesting parts of the game.
