OC Kafka to call plays for Giants to begin season

Mike Kafka will be the New York Giants‘ offensive playcaller to begin the season, coach Brian Daboll said Monday.

The Giants play on the road against the Tennessee Titans on Sunday in their opener.

Daboll will stick with the system the Giants used this summer and preseason. That puts the responsibility on Kafka, who was hired as the offensive coordinator earlier this year from the Kansas City Chiefs.

“I talked to Mike over the weekend. We were working [Sunday]. Talked to him [Monday]. I have a lot of confidence in Mike,” Daboll said. “We’ll stay with how we did things in the preseason.”

Daboll previously called plays for four seasons in Buffalo as its offensive coordinator before being hired as the Giants head coach earlier this year. The Bills had the NFL’s fifth-ranked offense last season.

Kafka, 35, previously served as the Chiefs quarterbacks coach/passing game coordinator. Kansas City had the league’s third-ranked offense.

It always seemed to be heading this way with Kafka as the playcaller since the day that Daboll was hired. General manager Joe Schoen said in January that “ideally” the offensive coordinator would call the plays.

To lure Kafka from Kansas City — where he worked with quarterback Patrick Mahomes and under coach Andy Reid — playcalling duties were a factor. The preseason was a litmus test on the operation.

Kafka called the offensive plays at practice throughout the summer and was the primary voice in starting quarterback Daniel Jones‘ ear. He also did it in the preseason from the booth.

The Giants were first in total offense, averaging 382.7 yards per game this preseason, more than 20 yards better than any other team.

“I was pleased with really the whole offensive staff and how they approached the preseason and how Mike did things,” Daboll said last week.