The Battle for the Playsheet: Who Should Call the Shots in 2025?
Behind every team trying to have the best season possible, a coaching staff always leads the way to help the players deliver the final product. However, coaches begin to clash when tensions run high and things go sideways during play calls and the play on the field. This was the case for the New York Giants last season, and everything that has happened for the past few years. Head coach Brian Daboll and offensive coordinator Mike Kafka have struggled with play-calling. That said, it got to the point last season where Kafka had his responsibilities taken away and Daboll took over play calling for the rest of the season. There had to be a decision made somewhere, and this is what it took for the Giants to start pulling it together, finally. However, things have lightened up this coming season, and there may be a possibility that Kafka can begin calling the offensive plays again.
Kafka had been around the league for a while before he turned to coaching, so he had an idea of both sides of the line. Before coaching, he was drafted to the Philadelphia Eagles in the fourth round of the 2010 NFL Draft and spent six seasons as a quarterback on several teams. Besides the Eagles, he played for the Patriots, the Jacksonville Jaguars, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the Minnesota Vikings, the Tennessee Titans, and the Cincinnati Bengals. After the 2015 season, he turned to coaching at Northwestern before joining the Kansas City Chiefs as their offensive coordinator. Since then, he has had three different roles working up the ranks with the Chiefs and being credited for the development of quarterback Patrick Mahomes, so he should be able to build a bigger and better offense all around. This, however, was not the case when he got to the Giants.
He was hired in 2022 as the Giants' offensive coordinator under Brian Daboll. The Giants made the playoffs in the first season in a while. Shortly after this great season, that was where things began to slide for New York. Kafka called the plays in 2023, and the Giants averaged just 15.6 points per game. This was shortly after former Giants quarterback Daniel Jones went out with a torn ACL, and the offensive line was out of control. Daboll took over the playing calls for the rest of the season, and it was the same thing in 2024, with Kafka calling the plays before Daboll took over again. The Giants averaged 16.1 points per game, one of the lowest in the league, just below the Cleveland Browns. Shortly after this, the coaches and the franchise removed him from the position altogether for the rest of the year.
That said, during the off-season and training camp. There is talk of Kafka returning. There have been persistent issues, but the Giants want to give him another chance. He has been observed on the radio relaying, playing, and showing that he may be resuming duties. This year, there is a new quarterback room, and Kafka’s involvement has improved in many areas, signaling that there may be a new era for Kafka. They have veteran Russell Wilson, who may also make a difference in play-calling this year. He seems poised to take back these responsibilities. If the Giants make this decision, they need to see how it goes during the preseason. If they look at the last few seasons, it may be a tell-tale sign of what’s to come because if all else fails, the Giants may be out looking to replace Kafka before the end of the regular season.
