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The good news for the Kansas City Chiefs: They are no longer winless after a 22-9 victory over the New York Giants on “Sunday Night Football.”
The downside? The Chiefs are struggling to present themselves as the formidable team that has consistently reached the AFC Championship game since 2018. Their once-powerful offense is currently lacking cohesion.
With a 0-2 start to the season, Kansas City was in dire need of a victory in any form last Sunday. However, given their ambitions for the Super Bowl and a legendary quarterback leading the charge, the offense’s lackluster performance against the Giants suggested there is much work to be done.
“Good win to get, in particular when you haven’t had one,” head coach Andy Reid said after.
Patrick Mahomes, the star quarterback, completed the game with 22 completions out of 37 attempts, covering 224 yards and securing one touchdown, resulting in an 85.9 passer rating. Notably, he has not achieved a passer rating above 90.0 this season, lagging behind his career average of 101.8 before this game.
Moreover, his performance was not against an exceptionally strong defense — his passing yardage and 6.1 yards per throw were the lowest among quarterbacks facing New York this year.
In the broader view over the first three games, if Mahomes maintains his current stats, his passer rating, yards per attempt, and completion percentage would mark all-time career lows.
“I feel like we were moving the ball the right way,” Mahomes said postgame. “We have to clean stuff up and get better and better.”
He commented: “Our aim is to properly execute throughout each drive because that’s what defines us. We need to keep doing that more consistently.”
To be fair, Mahomes’s receiving corps still leaves a lot to be desired, even if Tyquan Thornton had some nice moments in the second half against the New York. Kansas City still doesn’t have a player with over 100 yards receiving in a single game yet so far this year.
Travis Kelce, once one of the league’s most feared tight ends, has 10 catches for 134 yards through three games. He is on pace for 759 yards receiving this season, which would be the lowest mark of his career, one year after he set a new career low in 2024. (And that’s with the recent benefit of a 17th regular-season game.)
Perhaps in an attempt to fire him up, Reid was caught in a heated conversation with Kelce late in the second quarter, with him and the tight end bumping chests.
“He’s a passionate guy and I love that part,” Reid said of the exchange. “I’ve been through a lot of things with him, that’s all part of it. I love that he loves to play the game.”
The offense wasn’t alone in its struggles, as the Chiefs’ miscues extended to the whole team.
Harrison Butker missed multiple kicks, including a field goal and an extra point.
Kansas City committed eight penalties for 85 yards, including multiple on a first-half drive that led to a Giants touchdown.
It wasn’t exactly a sterling effort from the Chiefs, who were bailed out in large part due to two Russell Wilson interceptions — as well as a bizarre decision by Wilson to seemingly throw away the ball on a late 4th-and-goal.
“We’ve been searching for one win and try to figure out how we can get this thing going,” linebacker Nick Bolton said. “The main thing now is just keep working, keep stacking and try to get another, then get another win.”
For now, Kansas City is certainly happy to come away with a victory. But it’s hard to imagine the team rising to the top of the AFC with more performances like Sunday’s.
Only two of the Chiefs’ next eight opponents have a record under .500, and both of those contests will be against divisional rivals. Meanwhile, over the next two months, Kansas City will have to play the Baltimore Ravens, Detroit Lions, Buffalo Bills, Washington Commanders and the currently undefeated Indianapolis Colts, all of whom have been much more impressive early in the season.
Ultimately, the Chiefs took care of business against a lesser foe on Sunday. If Kansas City continues on its current trajectory, however, it still doesn’t look like the kind of team that could live up to its past success.