EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — One can only pity Mike Kafka at this point.
The New York Giants’ 38-year-old offensive coordinator surely viewed his seven games as interim head coach as an audition. Perhaps he could ignite such a dramatic turnaround that he would compel Giants ownership to give him the full-time job. Or, after interviewing for eight head-coaching vacancies over the past three offseasons, he could show enough in this stint to finally land a job elsewhere.
Kafka has undeniably given it his best effort. He dialed up trick plays in a near upset of the Lions in his second game. He has disciplined linebacker Abdul Carter twice after a rookie season full of attendance issues at meetings. He even delivered a fiery speech to the players before dismissing them for their bye two weeks ago.
“We’re going to come back and go f—ing dominate,” Kafka said to a room full of blank stares in a scene captured by HBO’s “Hard Knocks” cameras. “If you ain’t about that f—ing life, get the f— out.”
Kafka has to be careful with that message, because he might not have enough players for the final three games of this season. The Giants lost 29-21 to the Commanders on Sunday in a mostly listless effort aside from a few glimpses of late hope provided by an equally inept opponent.
The Giants have now lost eight straight games. That’s tied with the Raiders for longest skid in the league, as Sunday’s win snapped the Commanders’ eight-game losing streak.
Kafka has been at the helm for four of those losses, eliminating any sense that simply firing coach Brian Daboll would solve the Giants’ problems. The issues run so much deeper than anything Kafka could fix.
The Giants are now 11-37 since the start of the 2023 season. That’s tied with the lowly Titans for the worst record in the NFL over the past three seasons. The Giants are 2-12 for the second consecutive season, with a chance to top last season’s franchise-record 10-game losing streak. They dropped to a pathetic 5-17-1 against the NFC East in general manager Joe Schoen’s four-year tenure.
The saddest part of the Giants holding the No. 1 pick in the draft with three games remaining is they aren’t tanking. Schoen, Kafka and Co. have far too much on the line to prioritize future draft position.
No, the Giants are just this bad. So, they’re left to play out the string in a half-empty MetLife Stadium — tickets were available for as low as $8 on the secondary market Sunday morning. The only intrigue remaining is if ownership will make the obvious decision to fire Schoen when this season mercifully ends.
Here are three more takeaways from Sunday’s loss:
Up-and-down Dart
Other than learning which coach will be fired next (Daboll, defensive coordinator Shane Bowen and assistant defensive line coach Bryan Cox have walked the plank over the past month), the only intrigue is how the Giants rookies perform down the stretch.
Quarterback Jaxson Dart had an up-and-down day. The Giants’ offense had no rhythm in the first half against a Commanders defense ranked near the bottom of the league in every major category.
Dart was uncharacteristically inaccurate early, completing just 7-of-16 passes in the first half. Interceptions have been a rarity for Dart, but he threw a costly one late in the second quarter, as he tried to force a pass to wide receiver Jalin Hyatt. Commanders cornerback Mike Sainristil jumped the route and returned the interception 55 yards to set up a field goal before halftime.
Agent 0️⃣
📺 #WASvsNYG FOX pic.twitter.com/0qwCZ01xP8
— Washington Commanders (@Commanders) December 14, 2025
Dart settled in a bit in the second half, lofting a pretty 18-yard touchdown pass to running back Tyrone Tracy on the Giants’ first possession of the third quarter to pull within 22-14. His second touchdown pass was a heave under pressure on fourth-and-5 from Washington’s 16-yard line that wide receiver Wan’Dale Robinson dove to haul in for a touchdown.
In between touchdown passes, Dart was sent for yet another concussion evaluation after taking a hit as he tried run the ball on first-and-goal from Washington’s 1-yard line early in the fourth quarter. Dart’s neck got wrenched by 320-pound defensive tackle Eddie Goldman. When the quarterback was slow to get up, an official sent him off the field for his fifth concussion exam of his young career.
Dart was cleared in the time it took backup Jameis Winston to run two unsuccessful plays. Dart returned to throw an incomplete pass to Robinson on fourth-and-goal from the 4.
The frequent forced departures from the field clearly have annoyed and baffled Dart.
“I’m not really sure what the reason was I had to come out of the game,” Dart said. “It was just a really — it was weird. I don’t understand it.”
Dart had one last opportunity to tie the game after the Giants’ defense forced a second fumble in the final six minutes. But Dart misfired on three passes, including a fourth-and-8 from Washington’s 38-yard line to seal the loss.
He completed 20-of-36 passes for 246 yards, two touchdowns and one interception. He added 63 yards on nine carries, with his ability to gain yards on scrambles again providing a spark to the offense.
The Giants went 2-for-12 on third down which was a snapshot of the overall disjointed offensive performance.
“I take accountability for this one,” Dart said. “I didn’t play well enough today for this team to win, so I’ve got to be better, especially in that situation.”
A touch of redemption
Fellow first-round pick Carter delivered the best game of his career by a wide margin. The No. 3 pick tallied seven tackles, three tackles for a loss, two forced fumbles and one sack. Carter entered Sunday with 1.5 sacks, one tackle for a loss and no forced fumbles in his first 13 games.
Carter’s sack came when he beat rookie right tackle Josh Conerly on the Commanders’ second possession of the game to push them out of field goal range. Carter stripped quarterback Marcus Mariota on the play, but Conerly was fortunate to recover the fumble.
Carter’s second forced fumble was a huge play, as he stripped running back Jeremy McNichols as the Commanders were trying to run out the clock with 2:38 remaining. The offense couldn’t capitalize on their last-gasp attempt at a comeback, however.
🫨🫨🫨
📺: FOX pic.twitter.com/4CQnIJuVYk
— New York Giants (@Giants) December 14, 2025
It was encouraging to see such a dominant performance from Carter after a self-inflicted tumultuous stretch. Carter was benched for one series in Week 11 because he missed a walk-through. He then was benched for the entire first quarter two weeks later because he missed a special teams meeting.
Carter said all the right things about learning from his mistakes, and he backed up his words with his play on Sunday. There has never been any doubt about Carter’s talent. The Giants can only hope the light has come on for the 22-year-old as he learns how to be a professional.
“Yeah, for one week,” captain Dexter Lawrence said of Carter showing he can respond well to criticism. “Greatness is doing it over weeks. Being consistent. That’s what he can get to. He’s just got to stick with the process and understand who he is and keep that approach to the game every week.”
Baffling blunders
Ineptitude is so deeply ingrained in the Giants that it surfaces in a wide variety of ways. But there’s an alarming concentration on special teams.
Consider: The Giants were trailing 13-7 when they got the ball with 1:40 remaining in the first half. Somehow, they went into halftime down 22-7.
Dart’s interception led to a field goal just before the break. A 63-yard punt return touchdown by Washington’s Jaylin Lane produced the other points. Lane fielded a line drive punt by Cameron Johnston, who was signed this week because punter Jamie Gillan was sidelined by a knee injury. Gillan got injured when he got slammed to the turf as the Giants recreated the scene of Lucy pulling the ball away from Charlie Brown in their 33-15 loss to the Patriots before the bye.
The Giants’ coverage units had been a strength for much of the season, but they’ve collapsed in the past two games. They gave up a 20-yard punt return to set up Washington’s first touchdown and they surrendered a 94-yard punt return for a touchdown to the Patriots.
That was only a sampling of the special teams woes. Kicker Younghoe Koo, whose aborted field goal attempt against the Patriots was one of the lowlights of the season, missed field goals from 51 and 52 yards on Sunday. Koo is the Giants’ third kicker of the season, pressed into action because Schoen chose to roll with 38-year-old Graham Gano despite the aging kicker’s declining productivity and durability. Gano has been on injured reserve twice this season and is done for the year.
Schoen’s continued special teams mismanagement is mind-numbing. The Giants have two proven returners — Ihmir Smith-Marsette and Xavier Gipson — on the practice squad, but they didn’t elevate either player by Saturday’s 4 p.m. deadline despite top returner Gunner Olszewski being in the concussion protocol.
So, when Olszewski failed to clear on Sunday morning, the Giants were forced to use starting safety Jevon Holland, who has 16 punt returns in five seasons, as their punt returner. Holland had an uneventful two returns for seven yards, but didn’t look fully comfortable in the role.