Five things that stood out about the Chiefs’ win vs. N.Y. Giants on SNF
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Chiefs ended three-game losing streak with 22-9 win over Giants in New Jersey.
- Victory marked franchise's first-ever road win against the New York Giants.
- Offensive inconsistency persisted despite snapping worst start since 2014.
The longest losing streak of the Patrick Mahomes Era is over.
The most unusual losing streak of any Chiefs era is over.
The anxiety? Still there.
The Chiefs beat the Giants 22-9 in New Jersey — their first-ever road win against the Giants franchise.
That’s the history.
The Chiefs are in a battle in the present. They ended a three-game losing streak and their worst start since 2014, but the offensive frustration marches on.
How so?
Well, here are five observations from immediately after the game:
1. A slow night (again) for the offense
That opening drive of the second half — 11 plays, 74 yards and with some giddy-up to the pace — must have felt like a relief.
That Tyquan Thornton catch to seal the game must’ve felt the same.
They were almost enough to make you forget how painful it was to watch the first half.
Almost.
The first half felt befitting of a pair of 0-2 teams. It’s just that one of them was in the Super Bowl last season.
Man, it’s hard to tell right now.
In the first half alone, Patrick Mahomes completed one pass that traveled at least 10 yards downfield.
He threw two passes backwards .... to the ground. He might have been confused on the second one by his running back facing the wrong way. To be fair to Isiah Pacheco, though, the Chiefs weren’t moving forward much.
Let me put it this way: Their best individual play of the first half resulted in a 15-yard loss. Mahomes stripped one of his backward-pass-turned-fumbles back from Giants linebacker Bobby Okereke to prevent a possible touchdown.
I’ll grant you that having Rashee Rice and Xavier Worthy would help. But we’re kidding ourselves to think these problems don’t stretch beyond that.
They produced enough to beat the Giants. They might not have beaten many others.
2. A positive on offense?
Really, there was one.
Tyquan Thornton is emerging as a legitimate weapon.
And he has the trust of the quarterback.
On third-and-10 from the 34-yard line, appearing prepared to settle for yet another field-goal try, Mahomes flung a pass to a covered Thornton and Thornton reached around the back of the defender to make the grab.
It’s the best catch from a Chiefs receiver this season.
It’s also the most important.
Harrison Butker missed two more kicks Sunday. He’s missed four in three weeks this year. So a 52-yard field-goal was far from a certainty.
Thornton had five catches for 71 yards and a touchdown. But he sprung open deep on multiple occasions — same as he did a week ago.
3. The moon ball, as they say
The Chiefs secondary was terrific
But one week after Giants quarterback Russell Wilson threw for 450 yards, here was his final statistic line against the Chiefs: 18 for 32, 160 yards, two interceptions, 43.8 passer rating.
And most of his numbers came in garbage time.
Wilson isn’t the quarterback he once was, to be certain, but there is a single exception: He still throws a pretty deep ball.
Wilson entered the week with a league-best seven completions on targets at least 20 yards downfield.
Well, the Chiefs caught two of them Sunday night before the Giants did.
It’s not just a story of Wilson struggling — though that’s certainly part of it. The Chiefs struggled to defend the explosive pass last season, yet they were prepared for it Sunday, even while defending one of the best deep-pass threats in football in wide receiver Malik Nabers.
Which makes it relevant who picked him off: Chris Roland-Wallace and Jaylen Watson.
Roland-Wallace slid into the safety position, and perfectly read Wilson to cut off a deep crosser. Later in the second quarter, Watson got matched up in single coverage with Nabers in the corner of the end zone. Watson won that battle.
Nabers had two catches for 7 yards.
4. Travis Kelce (still) in the spotlight
A man who has never looked uncomfortable in the spotlight is garnering the wrong kind of attention — reminiscent of his early years, even.
A week after his outbursts were broadcast to millions by FOX’s TV cameras, his was on the end of one on NBC cameras.
As Kelce walked to the sideline after a failed third-down attempt, head coach Andy Reid angrily chest-bumped him. The two separated in distance but not in words, appearing to argue as Kelce walked deeper into the sideline.
The two will likely try to keep the cause of it a secret, but that Reid felt comfortable enough to publicize the effect is telling of his frustration.
It’s the second straight week that Kelce has been the subject of this same conversation — and it comes at a time in which the Chiefs need him most.
5. An offensive line problem
The offensive line has the same problem it endured last year.
Or would this qualify as the opposite problem?
A tackle cannot get the job done.
Jawaan Taylor committed his seventh penalty of the season. And you wouldn’t believe what it was.
In the ol’ familiar Sunday Night Football setting, Taylor was whistled for an illegal formation, a penalty that wiped out a Patrick Mahomes scramble to the Giants’ 21-yard line for a first down. Instead of nearing the red zone, the Chiefs kicked a field goal.
That’s a possible four-point penalty.
It wasn’t the last we’d hear from him on a key down.
Taylor let Brian Burns blow past him on another third-down in plus territory, preventing whatever the Chiefs had designed from even having the chance of unfolding.
It’s hard to win games like that.
A year ago, when the Chiefs had all the issues at left tackle, they tried anything and everything. They benched three players. They moved a left guard to the outside.
They have a much more viable option now — Jaylon Moore is making $15 million on the bench.
How long can he stay there?
This story was originally published September 21, 2025 at 10:39 PM.