Kansas City’s turnover problem persisted Monday night, with the first coming two plays after an overly complicated bit of trickery resulting in a throwaway by Patrick Mahomes from Chiefs’ win over Giants.
The quarterback’s first interception came as a result of a bullet fired into traffic that deflected off Jerick McKinnon’s helmet and into the air for the taking.
The second came when Travis Kelce caught a pass, turned to run, and had the ball knocked away from him.
Following that, New York capitalized with a touchdown drive, entangling us in a slog of a Monday night affair with no relief from the grind insight.
Andy Reid’s offense can’t seem to get away from the cute approach, and Mahomes appears incapable of turning down deep shots every third or fourth play.
It’s as if the Chiefs are so entrenched in their once-profitable ways that they can’t figure out how to do less and accept that they won’t be ripping off massive gains as frequently.
There was one bright spot: Kansas City briefly committed to the run, handing the ball to Derrick Gore six times and watching him score his first career touchdown.
Otherwise, it was more of the same disjointed, occasionally successful but never rhythmic offense that we’d seen from the Chiefs in recent weeks.
They’re simply an average team right now, led by Mahomes, and they won’t get away with this type of performance against the Packers next week.
Fans of sloppy football were not disappointed Monday night.
The Chiefs committed 12 penalties, totaling 103 penalty yards, and the Giants attempted to outdo them.
Elijhaa Penny of the Giants converted what appeared to be a critical third-down before drawing a completely avoidable taunting flag.
By jumping offsides, Oshane Ximines negated an interception.
Tae Crowder gained 15 yards for the Chiefs by grabbing a Chiefs blocker by the helmet and drawing an unnecessary roughness penalty.
That’s just three of the Giants’ numerous unforced errors.
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Add in New York’s passive first-half finish in which it did not attempt to get into field goal range and Joe Judge’s decision to burn all three of his timeouts before the game’s final minutes, and you have an ugly game that one team won because the other simply isn’t very good at this sport we call football.
They can’t all be diamonds, can they?
Daniel Sorensen’s No. 49 could just as easily be a large, painted target.
The safety was targeted as the closest defender three times on the night, allowing Daniel Jones 61 yards, a touchdown, and a perfect passer rating.
John Ross made one of the three catches allowed, fighting through Sorensen’s pass interference to make an unlikely catch – so unlikely, Next Gen Stats gave the attempt a 28.7 percent completion probability.
The reception increased the Giants’ expected points added for the game by 5.01 points and increased their win probability by +2.6 percent.
Another notable Sorensen target resulted in Evan Engram’s first touchdown catch of the season.
Kansas City’s defense isn’t great, but Sorensen could be the weakest link.
His presence invites opposing quarterbacks to throw in his direction, which Jones took advantage of on Monday night.
The Giants showed some promise, but they’re still a long way from being a legitimate threat.
The Giants, as evidenced by the aforementioned penalties, can’t seem to get out of their own way at this point in the season.
Jones completed 22 of 32 passes for 222 yards and two touchdowns, looking fairly solid overall (aside from an early interception and completion that nearly went for another).
Devontae Booker performed admirably as a rusher and pass receiver.
However, when the Giants found themselves in a close game late in the game, they demonstrated that they are not yet contenders.
The Jones-Darius Slayton connection is currently as shattered as they come, which didn’t help in crucial moments.
New York allowed Kansas City to gain 55 yards in less than four minutes, giving the Chiefs a free 10 yards in the process, before failing to muster much of anything with the game on the line.
Jones’ two sacks captured exactly where the Giants are at this point, which isn’t a good one – especially without Saquon Barkley
The Chiefs won thanks to some much-needed defensive life.
Jones has only been pressured nine times all night thanks to some creative play-calling and timely movement.
Three of those pressures resulted in sacks, including two in the final three plays of the game for the Giants.
Kansas City’s performance was far from stellar, but it rose to the occasion when it was most needed.
First, it was Chris Jones, who met a frantic Jones and sacked him on second down.
Then, on fourth down, Frank Clark put on his best show, twisting around Jarran Reed and blowing past left guard Matt Skura to take down Jones and ice the game.
The Chiefs need more of this type of pass rush if they are to continue to play well enough defensively to allow their offense to work out its many kinks.
