Firstly, the Chiefs' offense remains glitched. Kansas City continued to suffer with turnovers Monday night, committing two, the first of which came two plays after Patrick Mahomes threw away an excessively intricate trick play. The quarterback's first interception occurred after a bullet shot into traffic deflected off Jerick McKinnon's helmet and flew up into the air for the catch.
The second came when Travis Kelce caught a pass, turned to run, and the ball was knocked out of his hands. Following that, New York capitalised with a touchdown drive, entangling us in a slog of a Monday night game with no relief in sight. Andy Reid's offence can't seem to get away from the cute approach, and Mahomes can't seem to say no to deep shots every third or fourth play. It's as if the Chiefs are so set in their once-profitable ways that they can't figure out how to do less and accept that they won't be ripping off enormous gains as frequently as they used to. One bright spot: Kansas City temporarily committed to the run, sending the ball to Derrick Gore six times and seeing him score his first career touchdown. Otherwise, it was more of the Chiefs' scattered, sometimes successful, but never rhythmic attack that we've watched for weeks. They're essentially an ordinary club right now, led by Mahomes, and they won't get away with this against the Packers next week.
Secondly, sloppy football fans had their fill on Monday night. The Chiefs racked up 103 penalty yards on 12 penalties, and the Giants tried their hardest to match them. Giants fullback Elijhaa Penny converted a crucial third down, then got a flag for taunting that could have been avoided. By jumping offsides, Oshane Ximines wiped out an interception.
By grabbing a Chiefs blocker by the helmet and receiving an unnecessary roughness call, Tae Crowder gifted the Chiefs an extra 15 yards. That's only three of the Giants' several inexcusable errors. Add in New York's sluggish first-half end, in which it failed to try a field goal, and Joe Judge's choice to utilise all three of his timeouts before the game's final minutes, and you have an ugly game that one side won because the other isn't very good at this game we call football. It's impossible for all of them to be diamonds.
The Giants showed some promise, but they are still a long way from being a real danger. The Giants can't seem to get out of their own way at this point in the season, as proven by the penalties. Jones completed 22 of 32 throws for 222 yards and two touchdowns, except for an early interception and a completion that almost went for another. Devontae Booker performed admirably as a rusher and pass receiver. However, when the Giants were in a close game late in the game, they demonstrated that they aren't yet contenders. The Jones-Darius Slayton connection is currently as shattered as they come, which didn't help in crucial situations.
Jones completed 22 of 32 throws for 222 yards and two touchdowns, with the exception of an early interception and a completion that almost went for another. Devontae Booker performed admirably as a rusher and pass receiver. However, when the Giants were in a close game late in the game, they demonstrated that they aren't yet contenders. The Jones-Darius Slayton connection is currently as shattered as they come, which didn't help in crucial situations.
The Chiefs won this one thanks to some much-needed defensive life. Jones was only pressured nine times entire night thanks to some inventive play-calling and quick movement on his part. Three of the pressures resulted in sacks, two of which came in the Giants' final three plays. Kansas City didn't put in a very strong showing, but it rose to the occasion when it was most required.
On second down, it was Chris Jones who was there to meet a frenzied Jones and sack him. On fourth down, Frank Clark put on a show, turning around Jarran Reed and exploding past left guard Matt Skura to knock down Jones and put the game out of reach. If the Chiefs want to continue to do enough defensively to give their offence some much-needed time to sort out its numerous flaws, they'll need more of this type of pass pressure.
Patrick Mahomes completed just one of 11 passes outside the tackle box, for a 9.1 completion rate, the lowest in his career in such attempts.
In the last seven games, Patrick Mahomes has thrown an interception. It's the longest stretch he's ever had in high school, college, or the NFL.
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