New York Giants interim head coach Mike Kafka. Danielle Parhizkaran/NorthJersey.com / USA TODAY NETWORK

What Was the Mike Kafka Difference in Giants' Debut?

Originally posted on New York Giants on SI
By Brandon Olsen | Last updated Nov 18, 2025 5:00 AM ET

Mike Kafka made his head coaching debut as the interim head coach of the New York Giants on Sunday in a 27-20 loss. With Brian Daboll no longer overseeing the team, how differently did this team operate?

Receive the Kickoff

The Giants won the coin toss and elected to receive the kickoff, a stark contrast from the Daboll era.

Kafka clearly wanted to take the ball and score first, setting the tone with his scripted drive on offense, which led to an opening-drive touchdown.

The downside was that when the Packers took the ball with a little over a minute left in the first half, it put the Giants in a potentially rough position.

Had the Packers scored before the half, they would have gotten the ball back with the opportunity to make it a two-possession lead.

That didn’t happen, of course, but coaches are supposed to keep their team out of compromising positions if possible; that’s why almost every team that wins the coin toss defers - you prevent a massive momentum swing.

For a one-off like Sunday, with a new head coach and new starting quarterback, coaches often like to set the tone, so this wasn’t surprising. I hope it won’t be a habit.

Blitz Rate

The Giants' defense typically doesn’t blitz and has become especially conservative over the past seven weeks, except for the week eight loss to the Eagles.

Over the past seven weeks, the Giants blitzed on fewer than 25% of passing plays five times: week eight against the Eagles and Sunday against the Packers.

On Sunday, the Giants blitzed on 37.9% of passing plays, their second-highest blitz rate of the season behind only that week eight matchup with the Eagles.

There’s no telling if this defense will continue to be as aggressive as they were on Sunday, but it’s worth noting that the Giants also had their second-highest stacked box rate of the season at 34.8%.

That could be because the Packers are running the ball between the tackles or using 12 personnel to go heavy, but the Giants don’t often stack the box as much as they did and may be more likely to match personnel under Kafka.