Mike Kafka's bizarre postgame presser rules him out as New York Giants' lead man

In a 33-15 rout by the New England Patriots on Monday Night Football, New York Giants interim head coach Mike Kafka's 0-3 stint devolved into a cringeworthy spectacle, both on-field and during a postgame press conference that exposed a coaching void.

The Giants, outclassed across all phases in their worst performance of the season, fell to 2-11 amid seven straight losses, with Kafka's play-calling drawing ire for lacking aggression -- opting to punt on fourth-and-1 from their own 40-yard line despite earlier bold calls.

The post-game press conference turned surreal when pressed on quarterback Jaxson Dart's reckless sideline scramble, resulting in a brutal hit by Christian Elliss. After weeks of imploring Dart to slide, Kafka defended the first-round pick.

"Listen, Jaxson's an aggressive football player. He's on the sideline, trying to get himself out of bounds. Takes a hit. He bounced up. He's a tough kid," Kafka said. "Jaxson did a nice job, slid a couple times for us, and did everything we asked him to do."

Dart later doubled down, vowing no style change, underscoring a player-run locker room and Kafka's accountability lapse.

Worse was Kafka's evasive loop on rookie edge rusher Abdul Carter's second early benching in three weeks -- for disciplinary reasons, reportedly missing a team event.

"That was a coach's decision. My decision," Kafka repeated ad nauseam, five times in variation: "No, it was just my decision to not play him... This was just strictly my decision... That was my decision and my decision only."

Kafka insisted, "We have great communication, and he's one of my favorite players," refusing details: "Anything else outside of it is going to be kept in house."

Carter, sidelined as the Giants trailed 17-0, shrugged postgame, "S--t happens," fueling rumors in a franchise hypersensitive to optics.

Kafka admitted the effort shortfall -- "Today wasn't our best effort" -- but his in-game decisions and post-game deflections reeked of disarray. As Dan Duggan of The Athletic noted, it was a "disaster during and after the game," effectively crossing Kafka off the permanent list.

With four games left in his audition, this bizarre display seals it: Kafka is not the guy.

This article originally appeared on Giants Wire: Mike Kafka's bizarre postgame presser rules him out as Giants' lead man