Mike Kafka channeled his inner Constanza on Sunday afternoon. If his predecessor did it as head coach of the Giants, Kafka was going to do the exact opposite. Hey, it was worth a shot, right?
He was calm and controlled on the sidelines, unlike Brian Daboll. He disciplined one of his star rookies by benching him to start the game, which is something Daboll never did. He was so positive in the press conference, I had to doublecheck my notes to make sure that the Giants had, in fact, lost the football game.
Duh. Is water wet?
Of course they did!
The 27-20 loss to the Green Bay Packers followed the usual script, even if many of the central characters were different. Jameis Winston, in his first start, sparked the offense and had an epic touchdown dance. The offensive line dominated the line of scrimmage, allowing for an impressive 11-minute edge in time of possession.
The Giants took a fourth-quarter lead, though, and coughed it up to a Packers team that seemed wholly disinterested in winning for most of the day. Bad teams find new ways to lose. Really bad teams do it the same way, again and again and again, and the Giants clearly fall into this category.
“We’ve just got to make a couple more plays,” Kafka said in his first postgame press conference as head coach. “But I really, really like how we approached it today. Aggressive mentality across the board.”
Kafka deserves credit for his aggressive, go-for-broke mentality on fourth down in the second half — I mean, why the hell not, right? — and for his decision to bench rookie Abdul Carter for the game’s first defensive series after an undisclosed violation during the week.
He had a good first week in charge. He wisely recognized that Winston was a better option at quarterback than Russell Wilson, and while the Packers dropped four potential interceptions until finally picked the veteran off to end any hopes of the Giants stealing this win, he gave his team some life with rookie Jaxson Dart out with a concussion.
The players genuinely seem to like Kafka, who — again, unlike Daboll — seemed to understand that a team takes on the personality of its head coach. And when that head coach can’t hold himself together on the sideline when things go sideways ...
“I thought he was great,” receiver Wan’Dale Robinson said. “Didn’t overreact to anything. Was aggressive. Wanted us to go for it on some of those fourth downs. Stayed calm on the sideline.”
Still, the follow things remain true:
1. This seven-game audition can’t end with an interim coach taking over. Kafka might earn his keep as offensive coordinator based on his relationship with Dart, but the Giants desperately need a new voice on the sidelines (and, preferably, from someone with experience in that role already).
2. No matter who takes over the Giants, the biggest problem remains a roster that lacks the talent to compete with the better teams in the NFC. Yes, this is a point we’ve made a few times, but it is hard to understand how general manager Joe Schoen is still holding onto to his job when you watch this team on a day like this.
That loss-sealing interception is Exhibit A. Receiver Jalin Hyatt — who Schoen traded up for in the draft — cut off his route in the end zone, and instead of a game-tying touchdown, Winston’s pass ended up in the arms of the waiting Packers defensive back.
“We feel like Joe has assembled a good young nucleus of talent, and we look forward to its development,” co-owner John Mara said in a statement retaining Schoen, but that good young nucleus is 2-9 after a fifth-straight loss and sits in the No. 2 spot in the current NFL Draft thanks to a five-game losing streak.
The Giants are clearly shorthanded with Dart, Cam Skatteboo, Malik Nabers and others out. But week after week, the Giants send a team onto the field that is simply inferior to its opponent.
Mike Kafka tried the opposite approach of the guy who just got fired. It was a decent idea, all things considered. But the ghost of Vince Lombardi himself isn’t going to win with this team, although he’d probably try to be less like Brian Daboll, too.
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