Giants interim head coach Mike Kafka’s explanation for the offensive game plan will infuriate New York fans after the loss to the Vikings
The New York Giants offense was awful against the Minnesota Vikings in Week 16
The New York Giants had an abysmal offensive performance against the Minnesota Vikings today, losing 16-13.
The offense produced only 13 net passing yards, taking an extremely conservative approach. The first two drives featured 16 rushing attempts, and the rookie quarterback Jaxson Dart only attempted 13 total passes.
Today, the Giants’ offense looked scared. They appeared to curl up and take a beating from the Vikings’ defense, as Minnesota DC Brian Flores took advantage of that timidness. After the game, interim head coach Mike Kafka rejected the notion that the offense was being overly conservative.
“I wouldn’t call running the ball conservative,” Kafka told reporters. “For us, we just wanted to minimize some of that pressure package and let our run game go … Try to create an advantage for us.”
Mike Kafka explains Giants’ offensive gameplan
The Giants’ offense has sputtered in recent weeks, and today’s performance was the worst of the year by a large margin. It was apparent they were trying to protect Dart and keep the ball out of his hands while facing an aggressive defense. That attempt to protect Dart had the opposite effect, as his lack of aggressiveness sapped the offense of all explosiveness.
Kafka attempted to explain their offensive game plan ahead of a challenging defensive matchup.
“Part of the plan was to get into the run game a little bit more,” Kafka stated. “That’s part of the process we went through this week. When you have a coordinator that likes to pressure, and that’s a strength of theirs. You can minimize it by a couple of things, whether it’s screens, whether it’s protecting it, or the run game, which helps neutralize that.”
While they were able to establish the run early and gain 128 rushing yards, they were unable to generate any rhythm in the passing game. Additionally, the explanation for wanting to lean on their run game feels like a deflection, given that Dart finished with only two rushing attempts. If they intended to run the ball, Dart would have had a larger role as he did in previous games.
It couldn’t have been more evident that they were trying to protect Dart from himself.
Jaxson Dart weighs in on the brutal loss
Dart finished the game with a meager 33 passing yards and seven completions. He didn’t receive much help from his receivers, as Darius Slayton and Theo Johnson specifically had critical drops. When talking to the media after the game, Dart emphasized how difficult it has been to endure these losses.
“Still just trying to process this one,” Dart told the media. “It’s a hard question to answer right now, just it being so fresh. And now this is just not how you plan it out to go in your head before the season, so it’s definitely been difficult.”
Dart was also asked about his thoughts on the game plan and appeared to deflect, stating he trusted his coaches.
“Yeah, you trust the game plan,” Dart stated. “You have those conversations with coaches, and you just do your best to execute, and you know, for myself and for our team, we all missed opportunities we didn’t do that at a level enough to win the game.”
The Giants seem to have swung in the total opposite direction with handling Jaxson Dart by caging him up. Hopefully, they allow him to play more freely next week against the Las Vegas Raiders.
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