Why the KC Chiefs made just one big play in Monday’s 20-17 win vs. NY Giants’ coverage
Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes started the game eight for eight, engineering a 12-play drive on the game’s opening possession.
He got the Chiefs to the Giants’ 5-yard line, but their 13th play of the drive resulted in an interception.
The Chiefs’ signal-caller finished the game 29 of 48 for 275 yards and a touchdown, with an interception, for a 74.6 passer rating in Monday’s 20-17 win.
He averaged 5.7 yards per pass, but that’s not surprising because of how the Giants safeties played against the Chiefs’ offense.
Deep.
“They did a nice job on some things,” Reid said. “I’m going to go back and kind of look at whether I was putting him in a good position or not to make plays, and then we’ll see. I thought he did a nice job of hanging with it and ended up making some big plays for us with his feet and his arm.”
Like numerous other opponents this season, the Giants played their safeties back, sometimes 15 or 20 yards off the line of scrimmage. Such deployment of a team’s defensive backs effectively takes away deep passes and explosive plays, which the Chiefs had once thrived upon.
Mahomes, though, has faith that the Chiefs’ offense will come around regardless of the coverage schemes he faces.
“It’s execution,” Mahomes said. “I say it all the time, but we have guys open. And if we’re all on the same page with me and the receivers and the routes, and I throw it and hit the right spot, we can move the ball on pretty much any coverage.”
A week after recording just three explosive plays, the Chiefs totaled just one. It came on a Mahomes shovel-pass to Mecole Hardman in the fourth quarter for 24 yards.
Wide receiver Tyreek Hill led the Chiefs in receiving with 12 catches for 94 yards and a touchdown on 18 targets, averaging 7.8 yards per reception underneath the Giants’ coverage.
Monday marked the fourth straight game in which Mahomes, who posted a career-low 62.3 rating in Week 7, failed to record a passer rating above 91.
“I think we’re going to snap out if and we’ll find a way to start executing,” Mahomes said. “When we do, we’ll be a tough offense to stop.”
This story was originally published November 2, 2021 at 12:19 AM.
