Giants-Chiefs Week 3 Preview

As Sunday night football approaches, two 0-2 teams try desperately not to let their season slip away before the calendar moves to September. Since 1990, 4 of 165 0-3 teams have made the playoffs or about 2.5 percent. In the case of the Giants, the Brian Daboll regime is trying to muster up a last ditch effort to prove Daboll is the long term answer in New York and avoid losing his job this season. For the Chiefs, this is not a position they are accustomed to. Kansas City has won the AFC West 9 consecutive seasons and expect this year to be no different. However with the Chargers coming out of the gates strong at 2-0 already owning a victory over the Chiefs, this is a must win if Kansas City wants to keep realistic hopes of making it 10 straight.

Chiefs

For the Chiefs, it was always going to be a difficult start with a tough early schedule and the 6-game suspension of Rashee Rice. Things got even tougher when Xavier Worthy went out early in the first contest in Brazil. Nevertheless, they lost 2 one-score games to 2-0 teams and now are looking for a get-right game before welcoming in the Ravens next week. A loss this week would be a disaster for the AFC West monster with a potential 0-4 staring them right in the face.

The deep passing game has continued to be a struggle for the Patrick Mahomes led squad with only about 12 percent of his targets going more than 20 yards down field and a negative EPA on downfield targets outside the hashes on both sides. With a shortage of weapons at least for now, Andy Reid needs to find a way to generate downfield opportunities for Mahomes. Their offense needs explosives to alleviate the pressure of long drives that can be thwarted by untimely penalties or mistakes.

Giants

On the Giants side, they looked predictably hapless against the Commanders in week 1 losing 21-6. Staring their 2nd straight divisional loss in the face, the G-men showed some life against the Cowboys in week 2 but ultimately lost 40-37 in overtime in a game where Russell Wilson threw for 450 yards in a loss. No matter how you slice it, though, the Giants are 0-2 in the division and have virtually no chance of making the playoffs without a massive week 3 upset.

In contrast to Mahomes, Russell Wilson is, not surprisingly, pushing the ball downfield. Over 18 percent of his targets are more than 20 yards down the field and he has a positive EPA in all 3 target areas down the field. As expected, Malik Nabers is getting a huge 33 percent target share and is the center of their downfield attack. The Chiefs plan against him will go a long way in determining Sunday night’s outcome.

As week 3 comes to a close, or close to it, one team will leave with a renewed hope and vigor for the season and one will be wondering how it all went so wrong so fast. If the Chiefs are the latter, it will leave people talking about the true end of a dynasty. If the Giants leave 0-3, most will see it as status quo for expectations in 2025. Either way, there'll be a lot to talk about coming out of this one.