The Kansas City Chiefs came into a Sunday Night Football matchup as the visitors against the New York Giants, looking to rebound from their worst start in over a decade. Kansas City began the season with an 0-2 record for the first time since 2014 and the doubters were becoming very loud.
Thankfully for Kansas City, the Chiefs were ultimately successful in finally getting into the win column for the first time in 238 days, defeating the Giants 22-9. The Chiefs’ defense stifled quarterback Russell Wilson and his star receiver Malik Nabers, leading the Chiefs to a two-score victory.
1st half
The first half was not pretty, as the Chiefs continued to display one of their main weaknesses so far this season: settling for field goals. Over the first 29 minutes, the offense drove into field goal range three times, which resulted in just two field goals thanks to a missed 40-yarder from kicker Harrison Butker, his second miss of the season already.
In the last minute, the Chiefs were able to take the lead thanks to a deep defensive pass interference call that resulted in a made field goal and a 9-6 Kansas City lead at the half.
2nd half
The second half saw solid improvement from the offense while the defense continued to dominate. Kansas City went down and scored a touchdown with a methodical drive coming out of the locker room to take a 16-6 lead.
The teams exchanged punts before the Giants seemed to gain some momentum, as rookie running back Cam Skattebo dragged the team down the field, accounting for 45 yards during their 73-yard drive. However, the drive would still ultimately stall and result in just a field goal.
The Chiefs’ offense finally started to look like the Kansas City of old as quarterback Patrick Mahomes found wide receiver Tyquan Thornton down the field on 3rd and 10 for a 33-yard completion to set the team up at the one. Running back Kareem Hunt would find the endzone one play later, but an unsportsmanlike conduct call would result in an elongated PAT attempt that was missed by Butker.
The defense would get two more stops on downs to earn the 22-9 victory.
Miscues
While the game did result in a win for the Chiefs, it did not come without its faults. For one, the game felt very underwhelming to many Kansas Citians who believed that the game could have been won by significantly more.
This was because of the numerous missed opportunities in plus territory that only resulted in field goals as well as miscommunications between Mahomes and his receivers, including long-time teammate of Mahomes, tight end Travis Kelce.
On their very first drive of the game, Mahomes missed a wide-open Kelce who appeared to be going in the opposite direction, before Mahomes overfired Kelce, who was making his way up the far sideline on the very next play. A similar situation occurred between Mahomes and Thornton near the end of the 3rd quarter when Mahomes threw to the right while Thornton appeared to be running more vertically up the field.
There were also a couple of instances that saw Mahomes throw backwards to running back Isaiah Pacheco, both of which almost ended in catastrophe. The second such example saw Pacheco seemingly run backwards and away from the line of scrimmage where Mahomes expected him to be.
The backwards lateral resulted in Mahomes sprinting after the ball and knocking the ball out of the hands of a New York defender, saving both a possible touchdown and possession of the ball.
Stats
Mahomes ended the game going 22/37 for 224 yards with one touchdown. Mahomes did not lead the team in rushing for the first time this season, as Pacheco had a solid outing (outside of his couple of mistakes as a safety outlet for Mahomes.) On the ground, he ended the game with 45 yards on 10 carries.
The real bright side for the offense was once again Thornton, who continues to be a good downfield threat for the Chiefs, an outlet that the Chiefs have been missing for a while now. The former New England Patriot ended the game with five receptions for 71 yards and a TD.
Another former Patriot, JuJu Smith-Schuster, also proved to be a solid option for Mahomes, finishing the game with four receptions for 55 yards. This duo has been extremely important to the team as wide receiver Rashee Rice continues to serve his suspension while fellow wide receiver Xavier Worthy remains questionable with a shoulder injury.
The defense once again proved to be the superior side of the ball, holding the Giants to just nine points and star wide receiver Malik Nabers to just two receptions for 13 yards. The only real bright spot for the Giants on offense was Skattebo, who led the team in both rushing with 60 yards and one touchdown on 10 carries and in the receiving game with six receptions for 61 yards.
Former Missouri Tiger, linebacker Nick Bolton, seemed to be everywhere on the field for Kansas City, racking up 14 total tackles with two tackles for a loss and a pass deflection. Defensive end George Karlaftis also stood out for the team, totaling 10 tackles, three tackles for loss, one sack, and one pass deflection, along with four quarterback hits.
The secondary looked great as cornerback Trent McDuffie went largely unnoticed, something you typically want out of your cornerback, while fellow cornerbacks Jaylen Watson and Chris Roland-Wallace each acquired an interception.
Outlook on the team
While it was certainly not the most satisfying victory for the Chiefs’ fan base, it was a win nonetheless, which can help build some momentum for a squad that is certainly looking for some. Unfortunately for Kansas City, the road is not getting any easier from here, as the Chiefs will head back home to take on a very strong-looking Baltimore Ravens team next Sunday.
The question is, can the Chiefs clean up the mistakes and beat a contender, or will the questions for this team continue to build?