Giants interim head coach Mike Kafka responded to criticism from Donald Trump and others about his play calling.
With the Giants up 27-24 and facing fourth-and-goal from the Detroit 6-yard line in last Sunday’s game with the Lions, Kafka decided to leave the offense on the field and go for a touchdown to make it a two-possession game. Giants quarterback Jameis Winston threw a pass to tight end Theo Johnson, but Lions cornerback Rock Ya-Sin deflected it, giving the Lions the ball on a turnover on downs.
Detroit ended up winning the game in overtime, 34-27, when the Giants did not have Dexter Lawrence on the field for the game-winning touchdown from Jahmyr Gibbs on the first snap of the extra period.
It was another disappointing late-game loss for the Giants, who had a 93% chance to win the game at first-and-goal on the sequence, according to Next Gen Stats.
Trump, who was watching the game, went on Truth Social early Monday morning and questioned Kafka’s decision not to take the field goal.
“Why did the New York Football Giants (NFL) not kick that field goal???,” Trump said. “Who would have done such a thing? It was CRAZY! I got to watch the end of the game and thought, when they went for the touchdown instead of the 3, ‘That’s Weird!!!’”
On Wednesday, Kafka responded to Trump - and others.
“Everyone’s gonna have an opinion,” Kafka said. “That’s okay, that’s okay, I’m gonna do the best I can for myself, for the team first to give us an opportunity to win the game, and whatever that call, whatever, whoever it was, a player, a coach, my aunt and uncle, my dad, like I heard it from everybody. And that’s OK, they can have their opinions and I respect that. But I’m going to do what’s best for the team, try to do what’s best for the team
“I don’t want our guys thinking we should do this or do that. Let’s go win it, and that’s going to be our mentality.”
Chris Franklin of NJ Advance Media contributed reporting.