Giants' Mike Kafka deserves to be a serious contender for full-time head-coaching gig
Giants interim head coach Mike Kafka against the Lions at Ford Field on November 23, 2025 in Detroit. Credit: Getty Images/Nic Antaya
DETROIT
Another loss. Another squandered double-digit lead on the road. Another flop by the defense. Another season out of the playoffs.
None of that is OK, so none of what is to follow is to excuse the Giants’ wildly entertaining but ultimately maddening 34-27 overtime loss to the Lions on Sunday at Ford Field.
But if these last few games of 2025-26 are to have any meaning, it is to evaluate personnel, prominent among them being interim coach Mike Kafka.
Is he a leading candidate to succeed Brian Daboll on a permanent basis next season? No, not really. Not yet, anyway. Is he an option worth considering? Yes, he is.
Sunday presented an interesting case study.
Let’s start with the elephant in the dome — Kafka’s decision to go for a touchdown with a 27-24 lead, 2:59 left in the fourth quarter and a fourth-and-goal from the 6-yard line.
The Giants had just lost four yards on a third-and-goal from the 2. A field goal would make it a six-point game, forcing the Lions to score a touchdown to tie and an extra point to win.
“We did want to be aggressive,” Kafka said. “Just thought it was a good time to just take points in that situation, go up two scores. We had good flow.”
But Jameis Winston’s pass to Theo Johnson in the back of the end zone was tipped away by Detroit’s Rock Ya-Sin, and the Lions took over.
Soon Jake Bates was kicking a 59-yard field goal that barely sneaked inside the right upright with 28 seconds left, and the game headed to overtime.
The first play from scrimmage in OT illustrated why Kafka’s decision was the right one.
When Jahmyr Gibbs ran 69 yards for a touchdown, it reinforced the fact that the Giants were incapable of dealing with Gibbs’ speed. (He totaled 219 rushing yards, 45 receiving yards and three touchdowns.)
The run for the winning score came in overtime, but it just as easily could have happened in regulation time. The Giants had to try to put away the Lions by taking a two-score lead.
“I just think that’s Kafka’s aggressive personality,” receiver Wan’Dale Robinson said. “Obviously, as an offense, you want to do that.”
The situation will make for great talk-radio fodder on Monday, but the loss is not the main thing here, with final scores now largely beside the point.
The relevant takeaway is that Kafka is creative and aggressive as a play-caller and a calmer, more positive sideline presence than his volatile predecessor.
Why was he smiling on the sideline after Bates’ 59-yarder?
“We’re going to overtime; let’s go win it in overtime,” Kafka said. “I try to keep my cool and try to stay positive with the guys, because we still had chances . . . I want our players to feel that way. If something bad happens, all right, great, just get back on course.”
The Giants scored the first points of the game on a play in which Winston tossed the ball to running back Devin Singletary, who threw it back to Winston, who found Robinson alone in the end zone for a 39-yard touchdown.
But the real doozy came early in the fourth quarter. Winston flipped the ball on a reverse to receiver and kick returner Gunner Olszewski, who stepped up in the pocket and passed to Winston.
He caught the ball at about the 18-yard line and maneuvered himself past linebacker Derrick Barnes for a 33-yard touchdown that made it 27-17 with 12:16 left.
“Pretty sweet play, wasn’t it?” Olszewski said. “Reverse pass, they give me a chance to throw the ball to a Heisman Trophy winner, that ball is going up no matter what.”
What was he thinking afterward? “I was like, holy cow, I just threw a touchdown pass to Jameis Winston.”
Olszewski said the play is called “Bull’s-eye.”
It was the first reception of Winston’s 11-year NFL career.
“It adds another layer, added fun to the game, gets more guys involved,” guard Jon Runyan Jr. said. “It’s not like we need to score with trick plays, but it keeps the energy up and it’s fun.”
Yes, the Giants lost again, the fifth time this season they have squandered a double-digit lead on the road. Yes, they are 2-10, and 0-2 for Kafka, both without No. 1 quarterback Jaxson Dart.
But considering they were playing with a quarterback who started the season third on the depth chart in a raucous indoor stadium against a superior opponent . . . it was not all bad.
Kafka has earned the right to be looked at over these last five games, by both the Giants and the rest of the league.
“He’s been doing phenomenal,” Winston said. “He’s an excellent head coach. He’s poised, he’s confident. We have to help him out, myself included.”
It was the same old Giants on Sunday in many regards. But this one felt different.
Neil Best first worked at Newsday in 1982, returned in 1985 after a detour to Alaska and has been here since, specializing in high schools, college basketball, the NFL and most recently sports media and business.
