In Week 12, the New York Giants' offense stepped up, but the defense imploded once again against the Detroit Lions. Luckily, the 34-27 overtime loss and a fifth blown lead saw defensive coordinator Shane Bowen finally get fired despite Big Blue totaling over 500 yards of total offense in Detroit.
For the second straight week as interim coach, Mike Kafka's Giants dropped a close one against a far more talented NFC contender. However, the defensive implosion and running back Jahmyr Gibbs' career afternoon haven't changed Kafka's belief that the close loss falls on everyone and not just the highly inept Bowen.
#NYGiants Kafka - it's a team game....never about one unit, person, player or coach....everybody must be on the same page, make sure details are right and perform when it is needed.....
— GiantsWFAN (@giantswfan) November 24, 2025
To an extent, the 38-year-old has a correct assessment. Jameis Winston threw an interception, and Big Blue turned the ball over on downs when they could have attempted a chip-shot field goal to go up 10, so this loss doesn't even come close to falling solely on the shoulders of the defense.
Mike Kafka admits the Giants' Week 12 loss isn't solely on the defense
Under Brian Daboll, this level of accountability would have been a fever dream. He mismanaged the media, alienated the locker room, and nearly stunted Jaxson Dart's development before he was finally fired, but it's become clear now that Kafka's vision is highly different from his predecessor's.
However, despite the gross mismanagement and continued loyalty to Bowen from the 50-year-old coach, Kafka isn't ignoring the fact the elephant in the room that this team isn't where they want to be. And his words are uniting a fractured locker room in ways that Daboll's mismanagement never did.
His words don't mean that Bowen is absolved of all blame, because that is certainly not the case. The G-Men led 27-17 the start of the fourth quarter and had several golden opportunities to win this game, but never scored again after their touchdown drive on the opening drive of the fourth quarter.
With that being said, it didn't change how Winston performed while replacing the injured Jaxson Dart. The 2015 No. 1 overall pick threw for 366 yards and two touchdowns and caught a third touchdown from Gunner Olszewski on a viral trick play, but it still wasn't enough for the G-Men to prevail.
Moreover, Wan'Dale Robinson's 156 receiving yards marked a career-high and Darius Alexander sacked Jared Goff twice, but standout performances from Gibbs and Amon-Ra St. Brown spoiled the potential upset bid. But regardless, it's nice to have a competent head coach in New York once again.