The New York Giants met the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday Night Football this week in a matchup between two 0-2 teams. The matchup pits some familiar faces against each other and their former teams.
Giants offensive coordinator and assistant head coach Mike Kafka began his career in the NFL with the Chiefs, spending five seasons within the organization, serving in a variety of roles under head coach Andy Reid. First, as an offensive quality coach (2017), then as quarterbacks coach (2018-19), and finally as the quarterbacks coach/passing game coordinator (2020-21) before being hired away by the Giants.
Reid, who says he and Kafka still talk “a couple of times during the offseason,” was asked this week what makes Kafka capable of calling plays.
“I felt like he can do it, (he’s a) smart guy,” said Reid. “Had played the position in the league (and) had a good feel for defenses. Had a great grasp for the offense, so no reason he wouldn’t be able to.”
Kafka is also credited with the development of Chiefs superstar quarterback Patrick Mahomes. He was asked what the young Mahomes, who is now 30, was like as a younger player.
“He’s very similar to who he is now. It’s kind of his personality,” said Kafka. “You know, he loves ball. He’s all about ball. He’s a great teammate, great person to work with. So, I have a lot of respect for Patrick.”
Kafka also has a lot of respect for Chiefs defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo, whom he will be matching wits with Sunday night.
“Spags,” as he is known, had two stints with the New York Giants, the first as the defensive coordinator from 2007-08, winning a Super Bowl. He then returned to serve as the defensive coordinator from 2015-17 and was named the Giants’ interim head coach for the final four weeks of the 2017 season.
Kafka and Spagnuolo spent three seasons together on Reid’s staff before Kafka left for New York.
“Being with him, I think he’s one of the best defensive coordinators in the league. Their staff on defense is phenomenal. They do a hell of a job. They’re well coached. Obviously, Coach Reid has meant a lot to me as a mentor of mine,” he told reporters. “A guy that helped me as a young coach get into the NFL, teach me the ways, teach me how to be a coach, teach me how to teach. Really just a great example, and it’s really, it’s football, it’s heavy calculus. It’s not football 101. It’s football 501 over there. You learn as a young coach, you get to learn a lot and see how he operates and see how he talks to the players and teaches the players.
“So, I had an awesome experience there. And obviously, I mean, they’re the reason why I’m in this position here. So, I have a lot of respect and a lot of love for the guys over there and what they mean to me from a professional and from a personal level.
“I’d say with Spags, the challenges with Spags, and he’s going to mix it up. He’s always been aggressive, and they have the players to do it. They have smart players. They’ve returned like 10 out of the 11 starters from the past three years. They have played a lot of football together. They know the ins and outs of that defense. They know the adjustments to it. We’re up for a great challenge. So, we’re going to have to really be dialed into our protection responsibilities, the run game fits, and then play with great urgency and tempo in and out of the huddle.”
The Giants will only have a chance if they can execute in the red zone. Thus far, they’ve only scored one touchdown in eight trips so far this season (14.29 percent), 31st in the NFL. The Chiefs have allowed opponents four touchdowns in six trips into the red zone.
“There’s a lot of things that we’ve got to do. We’ve been talking about it all this week, really. We’ve got to get that cleaned up,” Kafak said of the red zone offense. “There’s some execution things. There’s some things on my end I can do to help out.
“So I’d say there’s a number of things that we’re working through. And, again, we’ll practice those (on Thursday) and (Friday) and get a look at them. But I think we have some solutions, and so we’ll go work on them and get the answers for our players so that they can go out there and have a good game.”
The Giants will need those solutions against Spags, Patrick Mahomes, and a desperate Chiefs team.
