The Kansas City Chiefs finally broke through on Sunday night, earning their first win of the season with a 22-9 victory over the New York Giants.
But it didn’t come easy.
For much of the first half, the offense looked out of sync. While quarterback Patrick Mahomes finished with 224 yards and a touchdown on 22-of-37 passing, two uncharacteristic backward throws nearly turned into disasters. One of them forced Mahomes to sprint downfield and make a touchdown-saving tackle.
“I don’t think I’ve done it maybe ever in my career,” Mahomes told reporters after the game, “so to do it twice in a short span like that? But I will say it was a great tackle. I’ll prop myself: That was a big-time tackle.”
Head coach Andy Reid pointed to those kinds of moments as tone-setters for a struggling team that managed just 125 yards of offense in the first half — 77 through the air and 48 on the ground.
“That was big,” Reid said of Mahomes’ tackle. “That’s how he rolls. He’s 100 miles an hour… it seems like every week, he’ll do something like that — and the guys know that he’s all-in. It’s not like he’s just throwing the ball back there. He’s going to do whatever it takes to come out on top.”
Frustration was showing elsewhere, too. In the second quarter, tight end Travis Kelce drew attention for what appeared to be a heated exchange with Reid on the sideline. While admitting it reflected the team’s mindset in that moment, the coach downplayed the conversation.
“I love Travis’ passion,” explained Reid. “I’m okay with that. We didn’t have enough of it that second quarter. It wasn’t where we needed to be. So within reason, he knows when to back off the pedal and knows when to push it too. That’s the part I love about him; the guy is all-in. [It’s] just sometimes, I have to be the policeman.”
The Chiefs entered the third quarter up just 9-6 thanks to three Harrison Butker field goals — and from there, Kansas City looked like a completely different team. The offense opened the second half with an 11-play, 74-yard drive capped by Mahomes’ five-yard touchdown strike to Tyquan Thornton — one of Thornton’s five catches for 71 yards on the night.
The ground game also found rhythm, with Isiah Pacheco rushing for 45 yards (4.5 per carry) and Kareem Hunt adding 34 yards plus a one-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter to seal the game.
“It was just finishing the drives,” Mahomes said of the second-half difference. “I think that’s something that’s important in this league: getting touchdowns, not field goals.”
Meanwhile, the defense delivered its best performance of the year. New York converted just 1-of-10 third downs, and after throwing for 450 yards and three touchdowns last week against Dallas, Giants quarterback Russell Wilson was held to 160 yards with two interceptions. Wideout Malik Nabers — who had nine catches for 167 yards and two scores a week ago — managed only two receptions for 13 yards.
“I loved the interceptions,” said Reid. “Turnovers are a beautiful thing. [The Giants] have good receivers. [Malik Nabers] is the real deal. He’s as good as there is in this league, so for us to be able to put the clamps on him a little bit? That’s not an easy chore. He’s a heck of a football player.”
It wasn’t always pretty, but for a Kansas City team coming off an 0-2 start, the victory was exactly what it needed.
“We played better together is what we did,” said Reid. “It’s a team effort. Everybody has to come together on that, and I thought they did a better job with that.”
0 CommentsSee More:
