Not many could have predicted the fortunes of the New York Giants and Kansas City Chiefs heading into their Week 8 Monday night showdown at Arrowhead Stadium.
For the first time in nearly a decade, the Giants are coming off a win of 22 points or greater after they upset the Carolina Panthers 25-3 last week. It provided a rare bright spot for a team that is now just 2-5 and still facing the imposing task of going into a raucous environment and trying to hang with the two-time defending AFC champions.
But the Chiefs are off to their worst start of the Patrick Mahomes era at 3-4 as the superstar quarterback suddenly looks mortal.
Mahomes leads the NFL with nine interceptions and 11 total turnovers while his 97.9 passer rating ranks just 15th in the NFL. He hasn’t had a clean game since the Chiefs’ Week 1 victory against the Cleveland Browns.
That doesn’t mean much to Giants head coach Joe Judge.
“He looks like one of the best quarterbacks in the world to me,” Judge said (h/t Giants.com). “To be as athletic as he is, as just naturally instinctive as he is and have that kind of arm strength to make all those throws, there’s a reason this guy gets paid that much money because there’s not a lot of these guys walking the Earth. This guy’s extremely talented. He’s got a lot of savvy and experience. I think he does a great job of going through the initial reads, finding the right receiver, and if something gets shut down, extending the play.”
