COACHING PURGE: BRIAN DABOLL OUT, DEFENSIVE CHIEF SHANE BOWEN GONE NOW
Giants interim HC Mike Kafka fires defensive coordinator Shane Bowen after the team's 5th blown double-digit lead this season. The 2-10 Giants' defence ranks 30th in points allowed amid a six-game losing streak.
Mike Kafka, the Giants' interim head coach, let go of defensive coordinator Shane Bowen. This comes just two weeks after head coach Brian Daboll was fired because of similar problems with the team losing leads.
Bowen's departure happened after the Giants' fifth road loss this season, a game where they lost a lead of at least 10 points. The latest was Sunday in Detroit.
Kafka said that I decided to make this move” after talking with general manager Joe Schoen, adding that he “felt like this was the right time.”
Outside linebackers coach Charlie Bullen will step in as interim defensive coordinator right away. There was clear frustration within the team, with Kafka saying defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence was in tears on the sideline because he wasn't getting playing time.
Lawrence told Kafka during the game that he had an injury, but the Giants still planned to use him on obvious passing plays.
But Lawrence wasn't used, and the strategy didn't work when Detroit came back to win.
The Giants, with a 2-10 record and out of playoff contention, have lost a league-high five games after being ahead in the fourth quarter.
Kafka, who became interim head coach after Daboll's firing, watched the team lose 34-27 in overtime to the Lions, their sixth loss in a row.
With Bowen in charge, the Giants' defence is ranked 30th in points allowed (27.8) this season, after being 24th in his first year.
Before their Week 13 game against the New England Patriots next Monday, Kafka said his team’s only focus is to go 1-0 this week”.
He also mentioned that he was happy to see several players arrive at the team’s training facility early on Monday to start preparing for next week’s game with the Patriots.
After playing in New England, the Giants have two home games in a row against the Washington Commanders and Minnesota Vikings, hoping to end the year on a high note.
YANKEES DEBUT ALERT: LEFT-HANDER RYAN WEATHERS OFFICIALLY STARTS TOMORROW NIGHT AGAINST THE NATIONALS
Bronx debut: Discover how Ryan Weathers' new "bullet slider" and 97 MPH heat will lead the Yankees against the Nationals tomorrow.
Ryan Weathers is set to make his Yankees debut on the mound tomorrow night, according to Gary Phillips of the New York Daily News. The lefty will face a familiar team in the Nationals; he saw plenty of them back when he pitched for the Marlins in the NL East. The Yankees are still getting their starting pitchers ready for the 2026 season, so this outing gives them a chance to see what Weathers can do.
They picked up Weathers from Miami this offseason. He’s only 26, but he’s already been busy trying to sharpen his game. He's been working on a new two-seam fastball and a tighter bullet slider, hoping to finally show why he was once the seventh overall pick in the draft.
Before that, though, the Yankees take on Toronto today at 1:07 PM EST. Will Warren gets the start, and both Aaron Judge and Cody Bellinger are in the lineup.
Now, back to Weathers. Last year with the Marlins, he made eight starts and put up a 3.99 ERA, striking out over 22% of the batters he faced. The Yankees believe he has even more to offer. They’re betting that these new pitches, a better two-seamer and a firmer slider, will help him take that next step.
He throws hard; his fastball averaged 96.8 MPH last season, which got plenty of teams interested. The upside is real, but so is the risk. Injuries have slowed him down the last couple of years, cutting short what could have been breakout seasons.
First, Weathers has to prove he can stay healthy. Then, he needs to show that these tweaks to his pitch mix can help him avoid the hard contact that led to seven home runs allowed in just 38.1 innings last season. The Yankees are betting on his talent, though, and they see him as a possible future star in their rotation.
Tomorrow’s game is at George M. Steinbrenner Field, and it’ll be the Yankees’ first night game of the 2026 Grapefruit League, starting at 6:35 PM EST.
OLYMPIC FAMILY LEGACY: INSIDE TOM BRADY’S PLAN TO TURN VIVIAN INTO A SUPERSTAR OLYMPIAN
Sports news: Tom Brady's Olympic dream. Get the report on Vivian’s volleyball talent and Team USA’s wins in Milan.
Tom Brady, now retired and a seven-time Super Bowl champ, took his kids, Benjamin and Vivia,n to Milan for the 2026 Winter Olympics. They spent the week soaking up the city, meeting new faces, and cheering for Team USA on the ice. The real rush came on Thursday; the USA’s women’s hockey team pulled off a wild comeback against Canada, winning 2-1 in overtime. Megan Keller scored the game-winner, and Brady got to watch it all unfold right next to tennis legend Billie Jean King.
Four days later, the men’s team kept the momentum going. Jack Hughes scored another overtime winner against Canada on Sunday. You’d think that would be the biggest story from the Bradys’ trip, but no, what really got people talking was something way more personal.
Tom posted a sweet shoutout to his daughter Vivian on Instagram. Just after all the Olympic action, he shared a photo of 13-year-old Vivian, captioning it: “Future summer Olympian” with a string of volleyball emojis. Fans immediately caught on that Brady wasn’t just being a proud dad; he was dropping a real hint.
Vivian, whom he shares with Gisele Bündchen, already plays volleyball at school. She swims and plays soccer, too. What’s cool is that every sport she loves is a Summer Olympics event. Brady’s caption didn’t feel random; it felt like he meant it.
And this isn’t their first Olympic adventure together. Brady and Vivian hit up the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics and packed their days with nine different events: gymnastics, beach volleyball, swimming, and diving. Vivian even got to play some volleyball on the sand with Brazilian legend Juliana Felisberta da Silva.
After seeing all the winter action in Italy, Brady’s “summer Olympian” tag for Vivian sounds even more hopeful. He knows exactly where he sees her going.
With the Olympics set to land in Los Angeles in 2028, Vivian will be 15 when the Games kick off in July. Club volleyball is probably her next step. And Brady himself? He’s hinted he’s got his own Olympic goals for 2028, turning the dream into a full-on family mission.