KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Kansas City Chiefs knew they would have to buy some time until Rashee Rice returned from his suspension.
Then they lost Xavier Worthy to a shoulder injury, and buying time before both wide receivers came back was a daunting prospect.
Especially when the Chiefs were mired in an 0-2 start.
But on a team with stars such as Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce, it was unheralded Tyquan Thornton who came up big in New York on Sunday night. The 2022 second-round pick of the New England
Patriots, who is getting a fresh start in Kansas City, made a series of crucial catches to help the Chiefs to a desperately needed 22-9 victory over the Giants.
There was the 33-yard grab on third-and-10. The 21-yarder on third-and-6. And the 5-yard touchdown catch on third-and-3, which gave the Chiefs a 16-6 lead midway through the third quarter — the kind of breathing room they haven't had all season.
“He's showing some things,” Chiefs coach Andy Reid said. “I know JuJu (Smith-Schuster) spoke highly of him when he was with the Patriots, and (former Patriots coach) Bill Belichick had compliments. And he's come in here and done nothing but work hard.”
That work is paying off. Thornton finished with a career-high five catches for 71 yards and the touchdown in New York.
It's been a nice turnaround for Thornton after three disappointing years in New England. The former Baylor speedster played in just 28 games and had 39 catches for 385 yards and two touchdowns, both during his 2022 rookie season.
He already has nine catches for 171 yards and two scores with Kansas City this season.
“I mean, practice reps became game reality,” Thornton said. “You go out there, you work at the little things, you challenge yourself, you don't shy away from it. You go out there on Sunday and you give yourself a chance.”
Now, the Chiefs are halfway through Rice's six-game suspension for violating the NFL's personal conduct policy, and there is a chance that Worthy plays on Sunday against Baltimore after he practiced in full late last week. And with their first win behind them, Thornton and the Chiefs feel a whole lot better about their prospects going forward.
“We were better together. We'd had too many mistakes — one thing here, one thing there. Some of that can be that you're just trying too hard at times and dumb things can happen,” Reid said. “Everything's about execution on the opposite side, but you have everybody doing it. I have to make sure I get them in the right position to do those things. Team effort, but everybody has to come together on that, and I thought they did a better job.”
The Chiefs secondary struggled against the Chargers' Justin Herbert in a season-opening loss in Brazil. But it played better against the Eagles in Week 2 and shut down the Giants on Sunday. The group picked off Russell Wilson twice and held Giants star Malik Nabers to two catches on seven targets for just 13 yards.
“They’ve been playing great these past two weeks, playing winning football,” Mahomes said. “They’re playing tight coverage, they are rushing, they are blitzing. They’re doing all type of different stuff that you’re supposed to do as a winning defense.”
Offensive consistency, especially in the red zone. The Chiefs were effective in the second half Sunday, scoring two touchdowns, but that came after a first half in which they were held to just three field goals.
George Karlaftis is living up to the four-year, $93 million extension he signed in July. He had four quarterback hits, three tackles for loss, a sack and a pass defensed to go with eight total tackles in the win over the Giants.
Harrison Butker missed a 40-yard field-goal try in the second quarter and an extra-point attempt in the fourth. The NFL's highest-paid kicker has already missed two field goals and two PATs this season.
The Chiefs sustained no serious injuries in the game.
245 — That's the number of yards passing the Chiefs have allowed total in games against the Eagles and Giants.
The Chiefs have another marquee matchup against the Ravens on Sunday.
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