Hey, remember that time when the football world completely stopped because the New York Giants executed the most electric trick play in recent memory against the Detroit Lions with Gunner Olszewski dropping back and launching a touchdown pass to Jameis Winston?
It was easily the most creative thing Big Blue's offense had done in... I don't know, a decade, cooked up during another lost season where Giants fans had otherwise completely checked out. Mike Kafka had been thrust into the interim head coaching gig just two weeks prior, taking over for Brian Daboll, who was fired following a Week 10 disaster in Chicago.
The 38-year-old probably thought he was fighting to ditch the interim tag and get the permanent HC job in New York. But as it turns out, he was actually auditioning for a completely different team.
The Giants loss that convinced Dan Campbell To Hire Mike Kafka
His impressive coaching performance caught the attention of Lions head coach Dan Campbell. When the offseason came, Kaf interviewed for the Giants' HC opening. After they decided to go in a different direction, he also interviewed for the Lions' open offensive coordinator role.
That's when he and Campbell sat in a room and ran back the tape of that Week 12 game together.
“We watched it,” Kafka said in a recent interview. “That was part of the interview process. We watched the game and kind of went through my thought process. It was good, it was a good football conversation. That’s pretty much the extent of it.”
Campbell has already made his feelings about his new assistant coach known, saying: “One of the guys I was really high on through that whole process was Mike Kafka,” he said back in February. “We were fortunate to get him (as) pass-game coordinator. So, that worked out really well."
While Big Blue’s season was already in the gutter, Kafka’s offense strolled into Motor City with nothing to lose and put on an offensive clinic -- racking up 517 total yards and hanging 27 points on them. Even without Malik Nabers or Cam Skattebo, and with Famous Jameis at quarterback, the interim HC still had 10 plays of 20 or more yards.
It took a literal heroic effort from running back Jahmyr Gibbs for the Lions to escape with a 34-27 overtime win.
New York went in a different direction in their head coaching search -- shoutout John Harbaugh -- and the Lions chose Drew Petzing over Kafka for their OC role. However, it didn't keep Kaf down for long. Thanks to that film session, Dan the Man made sure Kafka landed in the Motor City anyway as the team's new passing game coordinator to work alongside Petzing with star QB Jared Goff.
Who says late-season games are meaningless even when a team's season is already lost?
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