Before the Kansas City Chiefs’ Week 2 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles, our panel of contributors called for Kansas City to win 26-24. That pick had 18 points of error compared to the Chiefs’ 20-17 loss. Just two of our contributors (25%) thought the Eagles would win. Most of our readers also expected a Kansas City win, but to their credit, 39% of them picked Philadelphia.
In Week 3, the Chiefs face the New York Giants at MetLife Stadium on “Sunday Night Football.” According to FanDuel Sportsbook,
Kansas City is favored by 5.5 points.
Let’s see what the staff — and our readers — think about the matchup.
Nate Christensen (@natech32)
The game script here feels incredibly obvious: it’s going to be sloppy. We won’t see much innovation from head coach Andy Reid this week and the playbook will stay pretty compressed. The defense will play well. The game will be annoyingly close, but the Chiefs will win late — either by the offense executing in a four-minute drill to score or by the defense making a big stand. No one will feel great about how they looked, but it will be an important win as they inch closer to getting reinforcements.
Chiefs 20, Giants 16
John Dixon (@Arrowheadphones)
Like the Chiefs, I’m 0-2 this season. But also like the Chiefs, I’m not throwing in the towel. For the first time this year, Kansas City won’t face a probable playoff team. The New York offense put up a lot of points against the Dallas Cowboys’ defense, but I don’t think they’ll match that against defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo’s unit.
Chiefs 27, Giants 20
Maurice Elston (@MrMauriceElston)
This matchup features two teams searching for their first win of the season. The Giants are coming off a heartbreaking loss to the Cowboys, while the Chiefs are putting their close defeat to the Eagles behind them. Despite the setbacks, Kansas City showed defensive improvement in Week 2 — a promising sign. Still, this is the first time in Patrick Mahomes’ career that the Chiefs have started 0-2, and it’s hard to imagine them slipping to 0-3. Expect Kansas City to establish the run and finally see some offensive pieces fall into place. They should win convincingly and get back on track.
Chiefs 28, Giants 17
Mark Gunnels (@MarkAGunnels)
This is undoubtedly the biggest regular-season game of the Patrick Mahomes era. With the Baltimore Ravens looming next week, Kansas City simply can’t fall to 0-3. Fortunately, they’re facing a Giants team in disarray. While things may feel bleak in the Kingdom, the Chiefs are just a couple of plays away from being 2-0 against two of the best teams in football. On the flip side, New York’s 0-2 feels much different — because they’re the Giants. After failing to score a touchdown in Week 1 against the Washington Commanders, they dropped 37 points on Dallas in Week 2. Veteran quarterback Russell Wilson threw for 450 yards while in Jerry’s World. While that says more about the Cowboys’ defense than it does about the Giants’ offense, the Chiefs’ secondary must still prepare for Wilson’s deep ball. It’s one of the best in the game. It’s hard to see Kansas City falling to 0-3. Expect to see a team focused in all three phases.
Chiefs 27, Giants 17
Caleb James (@CJScoobs)
Starting 0-3 would look bleak for the Chiefs — especially with the schedule over the next five weeks. Both Kansas City and New York are deceptive winless teams. The Chiefs are just a handful of mistakes away from being unbeaten, while the Giants have talent in several key spots. New York’s defensive front — led by All-Pro defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence and a trio of capable edge rushers — could be a problem. But if the Chiefs’ offensive line holds up, Mahomes should be able to pick apart the Giants’ secondary. Expect a bounce-back game from tight end Travis Kelce. Defensively, Kansas City must focus on wide receiver Malik Nabers. Wilson has no problem throwing him 50-50 balls and letting him work. The Chiefs should mix coverage — mostly with cornerback Trent McDuffie — while also collapsing the pocket against Wilson. If Kansas City’s defensive line can’t produce against this mediocre offensive line, there will be bigger problems ahead.
Chiefs 27, Giants 17
Rocky Magaña (@RockyMagana)
The Chiefs need to win this game. That’s not because it’s impossible to dig out of an 0-3 hole, but because it’s the Giants. If Kansas City wants to be the team it believes it can be, it has to win games like this. I’m not convinced the Chiefs will find (or even want to find) a rushing attack this season. That’s disappointing, since a dominant running game would help keep things afloat until the wide receiver corps returns to full strength. The pass rush also needs to stop relying so much on blitzes and coverage sacks. But on the flip side, I have no faith in Russell Wilson. If Kansas City limits Nabers, they should be fine defensively. Still, New York’s pass rush may be the offensive line’s toughest test yet. It will be take big day from right tackle Jawaan Taylor and left guard Kingsley Suamataia to keep Brian Burns, Abdul Carter and Lawrence away from Mahomes.
Chiefs 24, Giants 13
Jared Sapp (@TrumanChief)
I’ll admit the Giants’ defensive front seven makes me nervous. If there’s an advantage you’d want against the Chiefs’ still-developing offensive line, New York has it. That said, not all 0-2 starts are equal — and the Giants’ is more concerning than Kansas City’s. Although Wilson’s 450 passing yards in Sunday’s overtime loss to Dallas were his most since 2017, I don’t expect that to continue. I think New York emptied the playbook to try to beat a hated rival. Wilson has faced Spagnuolo’s defense five times in the past three years, averaging just 177 passing yards — with five interceptions and 25 sacks. The Chiefs’ offense may still look like a work in progress Sunday, but I trust Spagnuolo to limit Wilson and Nabers — and for Kansas City to record its first win of 2025.
Chiefs 27, Giants 17
Matt Stagner (@stagdsp)
Let me preface this by saying I’m not worried about this roster or this team after an 0-2 start. They’ll figure it out. That will start this weekend against New York. I expect improvement in many of the areas we’ve been debating: specifically, the pass rush, running game and wide receivers. It won’t be perfect — and the score will likely be too close for comfort — but Kansas City should win. While Nabers is a dominant talent, the Chiefs have shut down No. 1 receivers before. The secondary should be able to again. The Giants looked much better in Week 2 (overtime vs. Dallas) than they did in Week 1 (blown out by Washington). But ultimately, it’s not about who the Chiefs are playing. Instead, it’s about how they play. If they execute (and I think they will), this should be a solid win and a pleasant flight home.
Chiefs 31, Giants 20
With their predictions aggregated, our panelists expect the Chiefs to win 26-17.
What do you think?
2025 Standings
| TW | LW | Staffer | W | L | Pct | Err |
| 1 | 4 | Jared Sapp | 1 | 1 | 0.5000 | 20.0 |
| 2 | 7 | Maurice Elston | 1 | 1 | 0.5000 | 23.0 |
| 3 | 2 | Nate Christensen | 0 | 2 | 0.0000 | 16.0 |
| 4 | 1 | John Dixon | 0 | 2 | 0.0000 | 23.0 |
| 5 | 2 | Matt Stagner | 0 | 2 | 0.0000 | 24.0 |
| 6 | 5 | Caleb James | 0 | 2 | 0.0000 | 25.0 |
| 7 | 6 | Rocky Magaña | 0 | 2 | 0.0000 | 26.0 |
| 8 | 8 | Mark Gunnels | 0 | 2 | 0.0000 | 30.0 |
In Week 2, Maurice Elston and Jared Sapp were the only members of our panel who correctly predicted an Eagles win. Maurice’s call for a 24-20 Philadelphia win had just 8 points of error, while Jared’s 27-24 pick had 14.
To calculate a prediction’s points of error, the differences between the prediction and the actual score in point spread, home team score and away team score are added together. For example, a prediction calls for a 17-10 Chiefs win. They end up winning 16-10, so there were two points of error: the point spread was off by one point, the Kansas City score missed by one point and the opponent’s score was predicted correctly. But if the Chiefs lose the game 17-10, there were 28 points of error in the prediction: the point spread was off by 14 (the difference between +7 and -7) and both scores missed by 7.
