The New York Giants lost 22-9 in their home opener against the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday night. The Giants’ defense kept the game competitive, but the offense acted as a malevolent exorcist, totaling just 281 yards against Steve Spagnuolo’s defense.
This was a game to forget for the Giants’ offense. Here’s the report card.
Quarterback
Kansas City defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo schemes a complex defense that challenges both quarterbacks and pass protection from pre- to post-snap. His units move constantly, with sticky coverage in man and match concepts. It’s a sharp contrast to Matt Eberflus, a zone-heavy coordinator whose scheme was carved up by Russell Wilson last week.
Wilson, however, did not enjoy the same success against the Chiefs. The passing attack was quick. After an explosive Week 2, Wilson finished 0 of 4 with two interceptions on 20+ air-yard passes through the third quarter. Malik Nabers was neutralized by Kansas City and the offense struggled to do anything through the air.
After Wilson’s explosion in Week 2, he finished this game 18 of 32 for 160 yards with two interceptions.
Grade: F
Running Back
Tyrone Tracy Jr. looked good until he suffered an injury; he finished with seven carries for 29 yards with two catches for seven. We wish Tracy Jr. the best. Cam Skattebo, though, continued to shine and scored on a 13-yard rush up the middle. Skattebo also flashed his elite contact balance for the third week in a row.
Skattebo finished with 10 carries for 60 yards – a respectable 6.0 yards a carry, with the Giants’ only touchdown. New York finished with 130 yards on the ground (4.8 YPC); it was the only functional part of the offense.
Grade: A
Wide Receiver
The Giants receivers had little breathing room against the Chiefs. Spagnuolo had eyes and bodies on Malik Nabers; Wilson’s second interception seemed to be one of the only one-on-one matchups in Cover-0 that Nabers received, and the ball was underthrown, resulting in a Jaylen Watson interception.
Darius Slayton was the leading wide receiver – four catches for 30 yards. Skattebo led the team with six catches for 61 on eight targets. Kansas City was giving the flats to Wilson and removing Nabers as a threat. The Giants failed to target anything to their star receiver for most of the game. Wan’Dale Robinson had one catch up the seam for 26 yards, and the inept red zone offense failed once again.
The Giants receivers rightfully had an A+ last week. This performance was the complete opposite and I would like to see a bit more creativity to get Nabers involved.
Grade: D
Tight End
The Giants tight ends weren’t involved much in the passing attack. Theo Johnson had a 10-yard catch where he carried, seemingly, both teams on his back for several yards. Daniel Bellinger had a critical kick-out block on the split-zone touchdown for Skattebo. The tight ends stayed tight to help out with protection, especially after Marcus Mbow entered the game. We also saw a Chris Manhertz catch; I’m always here for that.
Grade: C
Offensive Line
The Chiefs defense is physical and creative. Wilson was sacked just three times, but pressure was getting to him when he did have to drop back and throw; the Giants were also running a lot of seven- and eight-man protection. The line did a much better job at the point of attack in the run game, generating solid push.
Marcus Mbow was forced into action after Andrew Thomas left the game. The rookie struggled with power and was pushed back on a few occasions. The offensive line was not the biggest issue by the Giants, but it also wasn’t remarkable.
Grade: C
Defensive Line
The Giants bottled up the run, for the most part. Kansas City averaged 3.8 yards on the ground and the Giants defense – in general – did well to stop Mahomes’ rushing. Still, Mahomes’ ability to extend plays tore through the Giants. Dexter Lawrence had two quarterback hits in the game but remained without a sack. Darius Alexander earned a quarterback hurry. Overall, the unit was not terrible, but failed to make the critical differences necessary to push this impoverished product across the finish line.
Grade: C
Edge
The entire offensive game plan for the Chiefs was constructed to get the football out of Mahomes’ hands quickly to mitigate the danger of the Giants’ pass rush. It doesn’t appear much in the stat sheet, but the Giants’ rushers were constantly in the backfield, harassing the star quarterback. Brian Burns, Kayvon Thibodeaux, and Abdul Carter were all earning pressure, which kept the Giants competitive in the game. Despite their effort and energy, they did only have two sacks.
Grade: B+
Linebacker
Strange circumstances find this Giants’ team. Bobby Okereke, who is starting next to a guy named Swayze Bozeman, attempted to scoop and score a backward pass, but was stripped by Patrick Mahomes upon nearly securing the football. Despite that terrible look, Okereke seemed solid vs. the run; he led the team with eight tackles. The Giants were cognizant of their linebacker situation and got creative to avoid packages with multiple linebackers.
Grade: C
Cornerback
Paulson Adebo nearly came away with an interception in man coverage and there were quality reps from both Flott and Banks. Flott was bailed out by the Tyquon Thornton incomplete pass in the fourth quarter. Dru Phillips, however, had a rough game, particularly at the end of the first half and into the second. Phillips is a good enough football player, who won’t be a liability and will make plays for the defense, but he’s grabby. He was flagged twice at the end of the first half; the result was a third-and-10 conversion just before he committed a defensive pass interference on Hollywood Brown, which led to the go-ahead field goal for the Chiefs. Phillips was also beaten by Tyquon Thornton for the game’s first touchdown to start the second half.
The Giants ended up using Flott, Banks, and Adebo in nickel after the Thornton touchdown. Phillips returned to the field and surrendered a deep catch to Thornton that got the Chiefs down to the 1-yard line. A rough game in prime time for the second-year player.
Grade: D
Safety
Tyler Nubin and Jevon Holland stayed on top of the routes they were supposed to for most of the game. Both had an impact with their run fits and tight coverage, from the non-All-22 perspective. Dane Belton, though, struggled on third down against the tight ends in sub-package man coverage.
Grade: C+
Special Teams
It’s bizarre. The Graham Gano pre-game injury in warmups conjures post-traumatic stress from the Giants’ Week 2 loss against Washington in 2024. And here we are, a year later, and Gano goes into the locker room before the game with a groin issue, rendering the Giants without a kicker for most of the game. Massive credit to Gano for gutting it out in the fourth quarter and securing three points for the Giants, despite his injury.
New Giant, Neville Hewitt, had a quality open field tackle on kick-off after Gano’s field goal. The Giants also almost blocked two punts, and almost had a punt blocked. The Chiefs wanted to deal with Devin Singletary in the return game and he was respectable, averaging 26.8 yards per return. Punter Jamie Gillan has seen better days; while both of his punts were inside the 20, they failed to pin the Chiefs deep and the punts were from the Kansas City 47 and 48-yard lines.
Grade: C-
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