On Sunday night, the Kansas City Chiefs put their 0-2 start behind them with a 22-9 victory against the New York Giants, collecting their first-ever road win against the NFC East team. It was the step forward the team desperately needed, but it may have done little to persuade fans that the team has turned a corner.
In the first half, offensive miscues were frequent — and ugly
Two of Patrick Mahomes’ early passes to Travis Kelce were nowhere near the superstar tight end. There was a beautiful deep pass to wide receiver Tyquan Thornton that he caught — but only
after it had led him out of bounds. There was a pass to running back Isiah Pacheco that a New York challenge determined to be a lateral. That one cost the Chiefs eight yards when it hit the ground. A later pass to Pacheco looked almost identical — and nearly cost Kansas City a touchdown when New York recovered the fumbled lateral. But Mahomes made a heads-up play — one of the first half’s few offensive bright spots — essentially stealing the ball from the Giant ambling toward the end zone.
Just the same, Kansas City collected the game’s first score on its opening offensive drive: a 54-yard field goal by placekicker Harrison Butker. In fact, the Chiefs finished three straight drives with field goal attempts, which yielded only six points when Butker missed the third one — a 40-yarder — with five and a half minutes left in the half.
But thankfully, defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo’s unit stopped three straight New York drives to open the game — the last one with the season’s first defensive turnover: a nifty interception by cornerback Christian Roland-Wallace — paving the way for the Chiefs’ early 6-0 lead. New York managed a touchdown with less than two minutes remaining in the half, but punter Jamie Gillan had to step in for injured New York placekicker Graham Gano. His extra point was blocked, tying the game at 6-6. Another Butker field goal on the back of back-to-back penalties against the Giants’ defense gave Kansas City a 9-6 halftime lead.
In the second half, the Chiefs’ offense looked like it belonged
The Chiefs opened the second half with a nicely balanced, 11-play, 74-yard drive that ended with a 5-yard touchdown pass to Thornton, giving Kansas City a 16-6 lead. Whatever the team had done in the halftime locker room appeared to have made a difference.
“We just had to clean it up,” Mahomes told NBC on the field after the “Sunday Night Football” matchup. “We were getting drives going, but we were getting stopped, getting field goals instead of touchdowns. I thought the guys did a good job of cleaning it up — and the defense played their tail off and kept us in the game.”
Kansas City followed a New York’s fourth-quarter field goal with another long touchdown drive. This one turned on a 34-yard touchdown pass to Thornton that was reversed when the replay showed he hadn’t completed the catch to the ground. So on the next play, Mahomes went right back to Thronton at almost exactly the same spot. This time, the wideout made an amazing catch — and Kareem Hunt’s 1-yard run on the next play sealed the victory.
The Chiefs’ defense was superb
In Week 2, the Giants’ quarterback Russell Wilson passed for 450 yards and three touchdowns against the Dallas Cowboys. 167 yards (and two of the touchdowns) came from second-year wide receiver Malik Nabers. On Sunday night, the wideout was targeted 7 times, recording just two catches for 13 yards. After registering a passer rating of 123.0 against the Cowboys, Wilson put up a 43.8 rating against Kansas City, going 18 for 32 for 160 yards, no touchdowns and a pair of interceptions.
The Giants did gain 130 yards on the ground, which might be a worrisome number if the defense hadn’t played so well in specific situations. New York converted just one third down on 10 attempts, one fourth down on four attempts and failed on its single goal-to-go attempt. That’s the kind of defense that wins NFL games — even if the offense sputters and wheezes from time to time.
The bottom line
Everyone wanted to see the Chiefs’ offense become deadly efficient on Sunday night. Some may even have expected it. When it is without its top receivers, however, that’s a tall order. So the team’s ability to get production from Thornton — who led the team in targets (9), catches (5) and yards (71) against the Giants — is an encouraging sign. Might that be enough for the team to claim another win when it hosts the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday afternoon? It’s hard to say. But the way the defense is playing, the offense should at least have a fighting chance.
