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The New York Giants have officially ended the Brian Daboll era, parting ways with the embattled head coach during his fourth season after the Giants limped to another 2-8 start. Big Blue has turned to its offensive coordinator, Mike Kafka, to take over as interim head coach for the remainder of the year. While there will certainly be an adjustment period in New York, this is exactly the change the Giants need to get the locker room to believe again. Brian Daboll was often erratic on the sidelines as he coached the Giants, arguing with referees, players, and coaches, and even his own medical staff. That should now change, according to ESPN’s Giants beat reporter Jordan Raanan. Raaanan described Kafka as “a much more even-keeled and consistent personality than highly charged Daboll. Kafka doesn’t have an overpowering presence, but those who interviewed him for head coaching openings considered him confident with a sound process.” Mike Kafka’s Calming Presence Will Bring Stability Kafka will remain as the playcaller, according to ESPN, which will bring stability to Jaxson Dart as he recovers from his concussion. The Giants’ offense has been much more productive with Kafka as the playcaller than with Daboll, averaging 23.6 points this season with Dart as the starting quarterback. If history is any indicator, Dart and the Giants’ offense will be in good hands under Kafka, who served as a quarterbacks coach on the Kansas City Chiefs when Patrick Mahomes was just beginning his NFL career during the 2018 season. Mahomes proceeded to go to his first Pro Bowl that season and repeated the feat the following year. He then won his first Super Bowl against the 49ers as well as Super Bowl MVP to end the 2019 season. With Mahomes becoming a generational quarterback, Kafka’s experience in his development could guide Dart towards a similar trajectory. According to Raanan, “The offense should also add some more elements from what Kafka ran in Kansas City with Patrick Mahomes.” Kafka Should Protect Dart From Himself Jaxson Dart has now been in concussion protocol four times this season, with the fourth coming from the hit he sustained from Bears safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson. Although Giants fans love Dart’s fearlessness, his tendency to run into and embrace contact rather than avoiding it is doing more harm than good in the long term. Daboll has placed winning football games above Dart’s safety, as evidenced by his tendency to call a high volume of designed runs for the quarterback. More importantly, Daboll left Dart in the game for two snaps in the third quarter, despite judging that Dart “didn’t seem right” following the big hit he took that caused him to lose a fumble recovered by Chicago. After screaming at the team’s head physician and even running into the medical tent to check on Dart against the Eagles, Daboll continued to show disregard for Dart’s health, and ultimately, that was part of the reason he lost his job. Kafka needs to limit the number of runs he calls for Dart and do a better job of convincing the young quarterback to slide or give himself up, rather than taking gruesome hits that will land him back in the medical tent.
