Chiefs-Giants Rapid Reaction: A steady defense saves an inconsistent offense

In the first half, offensive miscues were frequent — and ugly

Two of Patrick Mahomes’ early passes to Travis Kelce were nowhere near the superstar tight end. There was a beautiful deep pass to wide receiver Tyquan Thornton that he caught — but only after it had led him out of bounds. There was a pass to running back Isiah Pacheco that a New York challenge determined to be a lateral. That one cost the Chiefs eight yards when it hit the ground. A later pass to Pacheco looked almost identical — and nearly cost Kansas City a touchdown when New York recovered the fumbled lateral. But Mahomes made a heads-up play — one of the first half’s few offensive bright spots — essentially stealing the ball from the Giant ambling toward the end zone.

Just the same, Kansas City collected the game’s first score on its opening offensive drive: a 54-yard field goal by placekicker Harrison Butker. In fact, the Chiefs finished three straight drives with field goal attempts, which yielded only six points when Butker missed the third one — a 40-yarder — with five and a half minutes left in the half.

But thankfully, defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo’s unit stopped three straight New York drives to open the game — the last one with the season’s first defensive turnover: a nifty interception by cornerback Christian Roland-Wallace — paving the way for the Chiefs’ early 6-0 lead. New York managed a touchdown with less than two minutes remaining in the half, but punter Jamie Gillan had to step in for injured New York placekicker Graham Gano. His extra point was blocked, tying the game at 6-6. Another Butker field goal on the back of back-to-back penalties against the Giants’ defense gave Kansas City a 9-6 halftime lead.

In the second half, the Chiefs’ offense looked like it belonged

The Chiefs opened the second half with a nicely balanced, 11-play, 74-yard drive that ended with a 5-yard touchdown pass to Thornton, giving Kansas City a 16-6 lead. Whatever the team had done in the halftime locker room appeared to have made a difference.

Kansas City followed a New York’s fourth-quarter field goal with another long touchdown drive. This one turned on a 34-yard touchdown pass to Thornton that was reversed when the replay showed he hadn’t completed the catch to the ground. So on the next play, Mahomes went right back to Thronton at almost exactly the same spot. This time, the wideout made an amazing catch — and Kareem Hunt’s 1-yard run on the next play sealed the victory.

The bottom line

Everyone wanted to see the Chiefs’ offense become deadly efficient on Sunday night. Some may even have expected it. When it is without its top receivers, however, that’s a tall order. So the team’s ability to get production from Thornton — who led the team in targets (9), catches (5) and yards (71) against the Giants — is an encouraging sign. Might that be enough for the team to claim another win when it hosts the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday afternoon? It’s hard to say. But the way the defense is playing, the offense should at least have a fighting chance.