The Houston Texans are facing a resurgent monster on Sunday in the burgeoning New York Giants. Head coach Lovie Smith told the media on Wednesday that he has a lot of respect for one of their coaches in particular.
Giants offensive coordinator Mike Kafka has risen to prominence amid the team’s hot start to their 2022 campaign, and Smith recognizes the unique approach that the former quarterback brings to play design in New York’s offense. Asked what he knows about Kafka by a reporter who was looking for insight into the Texans’ defensive strategy, Smith gave a lengthy response that hinted at his reverence for what the coordinator has been able to accomplish heading into Week 10.
“Now that’s going back a little bit,” He explained of his knowledge of Kafka. “I think there’s some guys that play the game. Where did Mike [Kafka] play? Northwestern? Yeah, it was. I have a son there, so I’ve given a lot of money to Northwestern. I’m familiar with Mike. I think some guys play the game a certain way and if they want to go into coaching they can. A lot of times, quarterbacks are like that because they have to almost be an assistant coach as they go through the game plans.
“Mike was that type of guy playing, so it’s not surprising guys like that go into coaching and make that transition quickly. I’ve seen Mike come up, waiting for the opportunity. He’s been on a good staff with Andy [Reid], doing an excellent job with the Giants. I know Brian [Daboll] is doing a heck of job with him, but he looks to coordinators and what they’re doing. Offensively, 13 package, 12 package, 21 package, 11 [package], all the things that cause defenses trouble. That’s exactly what they’re doing.”
The breadth of experience that Kafka brought into his first coordinator job at the pro level has paid dividends for the Giants’ offense and should prove to be a worthy challenge for Houston in what is shaping up to be a slugfest of epic proportions. The Texans have nothing to lose in this matchup and should be expected to play with a reckless abandon characteristic of a team desperately searching for their first win in what feels like forever.
Given Smith’s familiarity with Kafka’s approach to the game, Houston has a good chance to play the spoiler in this matchup. and just might be able to pull off the upset against a rising New York team that has playoff aspirations in 2022.
