NY Giants come up short vs. Chiefs: Good, bad, and ugly from loss
The NY Giants again lost in heartbreaking style in front of a national audience, this time, 20-17 to the Kansas City Chiefs
The NY Giants are currently a dysfunctional football team.
They again couldn’t stop getting in their own way of winning Monday night, as they blew a massive opportunity to shock the Chiefs, the NFL world, and get their season back on track with their first winning streak of the season.
Instead, the Giants faltered, sputtered, and failed to cross the finish line when the final gun blew.
While the NY Giants played hard for 60 minutes, you don’t get any participation awards or gains in any meaningful, tangible way after a loss. It was much of the same, sad story we’ve come to see under the Giants’ regime of Dave Gettleman as GM since 2018 and Joe Judge as Head Coach since 2020.
The NY Giants only lost by three.
It was quite a whacky, weird game for both sides.
The Chiefs seemed to have numerous opportunities of their own to build on their 10-7 lead but kept messing up and coughing up the ball instead. From there, the Giants led and had some brief but meaningful chances to close the game out and earn their biggest win in a long, long time.
There was a lot to take away from this game. Here’s a look at some of the good, bad, and ugly from the NY Giants in Week 8.
The Good: NY Giants Forcing Turnovers
Going into the game, the NY Giants had almost no chance of winning, if they didn’t force one or multiple turnovers .
The Giants’ defense needs to make game-changing momentum-swinging plays more often in big games like this.
New York got gashed up the field on the game’s opening drive.
Kansas City went 70 yards in 13 plays, with over six minutes of the game clock to open the contest. The drive ended in the Giants’ end zone with a catch. Only, it was the Giants that came up with it.
Some good pressure upfront by the Giants’ defensive line caused Mahomes to scramble and then overthink a throw that was never there. The pass bounced off a Chiefs’ helmet and into the air into the hands of Julian Love.
The Giants’ defense bent heavily the first drive, but it didn’t give up and never broke. Their patience was rewarded with a turnover that would’ve been an incredible way to start the game had Jones not given it right back two plays later.
Later in the game, Logan Ryan made another huge play.
An eight-play, 51-yard drive was thwarted after four minutes. Mahomes found Travis Kelce open downfield for a big gain and a first down. Instead, Logan Ryan made an incredible play as he punched the ball loose from Kelce while tackling him to the ground. James Bradberry scooped the ball up and returned it for another 13 yards.
From there, the Giants cashed in and went on an 8-play, 57-yard drive of their own that they scored a touchdown on from Evan Engram to take their first lead of the game in the 4th quarter.
Both touchdown drives were sandwiched by punts before and after the score. Making that habit consistently will yield long-term positive returns. It was some much-needed complementary, team football from the NY Giants. It’s something we haven’t seen nearly enough of at all this year or in about five seasons, but they have shown some *very mild* signs of improvement.