Brian Daboll was fired by the New York Giants Monday afternoon, with offensive coordinator and assistant head coach Mike Kafka taking over for the remainder of the season.
It took four years, but Kafka finally got his head-coaching opportunity. It might not have happened the way he would have preferred, but Kafka now has the chance to show the NFL world what he can do. The Giants have plenty of work to do and don’t really have much in the way of post-season prospects. However, this is the best possible job interview that Kafka could hope for. He’s been a finalist for several head-coaching vacancies since becoming the Giants’ offensive coordinator.
Now he has the opportunity to not just tell his prospective employers how he would run a team, but rather show them how he would do it.
So let’s look at some other changes Kafka could make as the Giants’ interim head coach.
Protect Jaxson Dart
This is, frankly, the first and last order of business for Kafka. That doesn’t mean he should bench Dart and put him in bubble wrap until the games matter again. He shouldn’t even treat him like a fragile baby deer on the field, either.
Dart is an incredible competitor. He refuses to give up on a play and is willing to run through hellfire if it means helping his team win. Brian Daboll has always featured quarterback power as an aspect of his run game, starting with Josh Allen and continuing with Daniel Jones, Tyrod Taylor, and Tommy DeVito.
Kafka’s first change should be to limit the use of Dart in the running game, and scheme to be as judicious as possible when they do use him as a runner. The Giants have used Dart as a runner to a fairly ridiculous degree — more than any other quarterback in the NFL despite being a backup the first three games. Dart’s legs are too potent a weapon to never use, but that doesn’t mean he should be asked to run nearly as often as he has.
To expand on that, it also means scheming to avoid making him feel as though he needs to pick up yardage on his own. Kafka — not Daboll — will have the final say on game plans, and he should make an effort to always scheme separation and an outlet for Dart in passing plays. Some of the biggest hits Dart has taken have come on improvisational scrambles after receiving targets failed to get open. Making a point of using route combinations that can create easy separation should be one of the first things Kafka does.
Put his stamp on the offense
It wasn’t mentioned much — and won’t be explored deeply now — but the Giants made a significant adjustment at halftime against the Bears.
We all saw them have Dart play under center far more against the Bears than he has at any point in his football career — possibly put together. The Giants balanced plays in the shotgun with under center plays in the first half, but added a new wrinkle in the second half: The Pistol.
The pistol formation blends elements of under-center and shotgun formations, offering great versatility while also making it more difficult for defenses to pick up clues.
By putting the quarterback behind — rather than under — center, he gets the better view offered by the Shotgun formation. Likewise, he gets instant separation from the defense. By putting the running back behind — rather than beside — the quarterback, the defense can’t key on a certain side for pass protection.
Likewise, they can’t know ahead of time whether the play is a pass or run, or a run to which side, based on running back alignment.
Finally, the Pistol used Daniel Bellinger as an H-Back, which provided an instant upgrade to their run blocking, as well as giving the Giants another weapon out of the backfield.
It worked impressively, and the Giants saw an immediate boost in the rushing offense, and also hit some very nice passes from the formation. It needs to stay, and perhaps even become their base offensive formation.
This was the type of change we saw the Giants make back in 2022 with Kafka running the offense, and didn’t see in 2024 when Daboll took a larger role. The Giants’ ability to exploit opponents’ tendencies and make in-game adjustments was one of the secrets of their success that year.
Kafka needs to do more of this over the next four weeks (including the bye week). The Giants’ offense is fantastic in spurts, but tends to fall flat. Kafka should make an effort to incorporate more of what he learned from Andy Reid as well as use those in-game adjustments.
Refocus on the details
The Giants have fallen to 2-8 for the third consecutive year in large part due to self-inflicted wounds. They’ve been plagued from the start by a poor attention to detail, as evidenced by consistently bad angles in run defense, blown coverages in pass defense, poor routes on offense, and missed assignments in blocking.
Not to mention constant penalties on offense and defense. The Giants are third in the NFL in flags thrown (95), third in penalties against (79), and third in penalty yardage agains (652).
Whether it’s penalties, blown assignments, or poor technique, the Giants have found ways to kill their own drives or help their opponents. That lack of discipline and attention to detail is the biggest reason why the Giants are 2-8 rather than 6-4 or 7-3. Even with all the injuries the Giants have sustained, they still have enough talent to be the better team against the Los Angeles Chargers, New Orleans Saints, Denver Broncos, San Francisco 49ers, and Chicago Bears.
And yet they went 1-4 in those games due to their own mistakes.
Kafka needs to refocus the coaching staff and the players on the details. This is a team that can compete with any team in the NFL, and but they need to play with discipline. A focus on the details, as well as consequences for ignoring them — or rewards for those who play with great discipline and attention to detail — could be the biggest change Kafka can make.
That should apply to his coaching staff as well. The Giants’ defense has been the biggest offender in this regard, and Brian Daboll declined to set a standard by removing Shane Bowen. Kafka probably shouldn’t fire Bowen right away — he has a lot on his plate as a first time and interim head coach — but he needs to make it clear that further sloppy play won’t be tolerated.
Now we’ll wait and see if these changes — or what other changes — Kafka enacts as the Giants’ head coach.
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