Some things never change, and for the New York Giants, losing is becoming the norm.
The Giants dropped their seventh straight game on Monday night against the New England Patriots, 33-15, as they're now mercifully heading into their bye week with a 2-11 record for the second straight year.
While it’s fair to say that New York wasn’t given any chance to win this game, the Patriots not only entered as winners of nine straight but also hold the best record in the AFC. Still, right from the start, it looked like the Giants lacked effort on both sides of the ball, as they’ve now dropped a whopping 20 of their last 25 games dating back to last year. And this latest takeaway from another dismal loss by Big Blue might at least give fans some hope that the season is, thankfully, almost over.
Mike Kafka deemed biggest loser in latest loss for the G-Men
In an article for Bleacher Report, the B/R NFL staff listed interim head coach Mike Kafka as the biggest loser for Big Blue, as his 0-3 record since taking over as the head honcho should all but confirm he won't be a contender for the full-time gig in 2026.
"To be fair, the Giants were clearly overmatched in this game. Still, New York never really made things feel competitive, and one could argue that they never really tried," they wrote.
"Down 27-7 just before halftime, interim coach Mike Kafka opted to punt on 4th-and-1 from the New York 40-yard line. New England, of course, put another field goal on the board before intermission. It was a strange decision by a team with nothing at stake, and it should cement Kafka's status as a non-candidate for the permanent coaching job."
Related: 1 winner (and 3 losers) from Giants' primetime embarrassment vs Patriots
While Kafka has a proven track record of being a solid playcalller on offense, these last three games (granted against three playoff-caliber teams) do not show he can be the leading man going forward.
From opting to punt on fourth down on 4th-and-1 towards the end of the first half last night, to going for it on fourth and goal last week against the Detroit Lions while only up by three in the fourth quarter -- which led to the Lions tying it and eventually winning in overtime -- there have certainly been questionable decisions made by Kafka.
There have just been far too many instances this season in which questionable play-calling has cost this team winnable games. And this latest clunker against New England, with Kafka at the helm, proves this New York Giants team does not, and might not for a long time, regain a winning mentality.