Arrowheadlines: Chiefs graded B minus for win over Giants

Chiefs headlines for Tuesday, September 23

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NFL Week 3 grades, results: Browns get high mark by shocking Packers, Bengals fail | CBS Sports

B- Chiefs Whatever Andy Reid said at halftime, he might want to bottle some of that up for the future, because the Chiefs came out on fire in the third quarter after a sluggish first half. Patrick Mahomes went 10 of 14 for 124 yards in the second half as the Chiefs played smart, efficient football, but there are still definitely some concerns. The offense doesn’t look explosive and every other play seems

to rely on Mahomes making something out of nothing. One positive for the Chiefs is that Tyquan Thornton (five catches, 71 yards, TD) is slowly emerging as a legitimate receiving threat. On the other side of the ball, the defense, which has been getting better every week, deserves a lot of credit for the win. The unit’s constant pressure on Russell Wilson led to two sacks and two interceptions. It might have been panic time in Kansas City if the Chiefs had fallen to 0-3, but that didn’t happen. This was a huge win for a team that has the Ravens coming up in Week 4.

NFL Week 3 takeaways: What We Learned from Sunday’s 14 games | NFL.com

Next Gen Stats Insight for Chiefs-Giants (via NFL Pro): Patrick Mahomes was pressured on more than 25 percent of his dropbacks for a third straight game. He was pressured on a season-high 29.3% with 12 QB pressures overall. He was sacked twice, as he’s been in each game.

NFL Research: Head coach Andy Reid avoided his first 0-3 start since 1999 with the Philadelphia Eagles, who went 5-11. In his fourth season with the Giants, Brian Daboll is 0-3 for the first time in his career. It’s New York’s first 0-3 start since 2021, but its third since 2020, which is tied for the most over the last six years with the New York Jets.

Patrick Mahomes still a man nobody wants to see in January or February | The Athletic

It was late in the first half, deep in Kansas City Chiefs territory, when Mahomes planted his left foot, rotated his hips and shot-putted a pass behind him that landed wide of Isiah Pacheco’s feet.

Andy Reid could have thrown a better pass. Taylor Swift could have thrown a better pass.

However, that wasn’t the point. The pass wasn’t just dreadful — it wasn’t a pass at all. The ball was loose, live and available for anyone to grab.

Though Mahomes is not the only NFL quarterback who would’ve grasped this in real time, he might be the only NFL quarterback who would have attacked that bouncing lateral the way he did. New York Giants linebacker Bobby Okereke scooped the fumble at the 10-yard line and figured he had a walk-in touchdown until he was drilled from the side by Mahomes, who ripped the ball from Okereke’s hands while knocking him to the ground.

Mahomes ended up flat on his belly on the 7-yard line, cradling the ball with both hands as if he were protecting a newborn child from a fierce winter wind. This was a lousy 6-6 game at the time, between two 0-2 teams, and the megastar quarterback sacrificed his body as if it were the closing minutes of the Super Bowl.

2025 NFL Week 3 Winners and Losers | Bleacher Report

Winner: WR Tyquan Thornton, Kansas City Chiefs

Thornton made two notable catches, one of them highlight-worthy on the Sunday Night Football stage. He registered a five-yard touchdown reception to give the Chiefs a two-possession lead. In the fourth quarter, the big-play wideout hauled in a 33-yard pass that set up Kareem Hunt’s 1-yard run for a score.

In the next month, Xavier Worthy, who practiced this week with a dislocated shoulder, and Rashee Rice, currently serving a six-game suspension, could provide a significant spark to the Chiefs’ aerial attack. For now, though, Thornton is the key field stretcher, averaging 19 yards per reception.

Around the NFL

49ers DE Nick Bosa out for season with torn right ACL | ESPN

“He was pretty confident that he did it,” Shanahan said. “You could tell walking on the field, seeing his face and could tell talking to him last night just how sure he was of it and knowing his body, and then an MRI confirmed it this morning.”

Bosa, 27, will need season-ending surgery once the swelling in the knee subsides, and the Niners will move forward without one of their defensive stalwarts and the 2022 NFL Defensive Player of the Year. The 49ers will get almost $7 million in salary cap relief in 2026 because of their insurance policy for a season-ending injury, a source told ESPN’s Kalyn Kahler.

Lions run wild, swallow up Lamar Jackson and Ravens for ‘Monday Night Football’ victory | CBS Sports

The Ravens defense lacks a physical edge

We can excuse at least a few of Baltimore’s defensive breakdowns when considering two of the club’s top starters, front-seven disruptors Nnamdi Madubuike and Kyle Van Noy, were sidelined due to injury. But this now makes two of three games in 2025 where the Ravens register as pushovers on this side of the ball. First there was the Week 1 debacle in which John Harbaugh’s team coughed up a 15-point lead in the waning minutes. Then there was this, with basically every skill player on the Lions offense having a field day on M&T Bank Stadium grass. The real distinguishing stat came in the pass rushing department, where Detroit finished with a whopping seven sacks while the Ravens downed Jared Goff zero times.

Source – Cardinals’ James Conner suffers season-ending ankle injury | ESPN

Arizona Cardinals running back James Conner suffered a season-ending right ankle injury during Sunday’s loss to the San Francisco 49ers, a source told ESPN’s Adam Schefter.

Conner was carted off the field after a 1-yard run with 12:26 remaining in the third quarter of the Niners’ 16-15 victory. The injury is considered “severe” and will require surgery, the source told ESPN on Sunday night.

After the game, Arizona coach Jonathan Gannon said he didn’t know the severity of the injury, as a prognosis hadn’t yet been made.

The Cardinals are heading into a short week before hosting the Seattle Seahawks on Thursday night.

In case you missed it on Arrowhead Pride

Chiefs-Giants: 5 things we learned in Week 3 victory

3. Harrison Butker isn’t as automatic as he should be

When the Chiefs’ placekicker missed a field goal in each of the first two games, it was fair to wonder if he was fully healthy. But after missing a 40-yard attempt in this game — along with a very long point-after try — questions about his consistency are unavoidable.

Is it mechanics? Is he dealing with another injury? Whatever the reason, Kansas City cannot afford to leave points on the field — especially next week against the Ravens.

4. Steve Spagnuolo is still the GOAT

The veteran defensive coordinator came into this game with a masterful plan. His approach was simple: take Malik Nabers — the Giants’ only true superstar receiving threat — out of the equation.

The strategy worked. Russell Wilson spent most of the game frustrated, forcing throws into Nabers’ coverage. The result: two first-half interceptions.