The Chiefs avoided an absolute disaster last night, barely beating the Giants on Monday Night Football. The company line is that there are no cheap wins in the NFL, but just how much did a comeback, three-point win over a bad New York team really move the needle on the Chiefs' season outlook? The internet isn't particularly convinced:
ESPN - #15
The Chiefs had a league-low eight sacks and a feeble pass rush win rate of 35.2% heading into Monday night's game against the Giants. There's no mystery why opposing quarterbacks had a 61.4 QBR against them. It's difficult to see any hope that the defense will make significant improvement unless these numbers improve.
NFL.com - #13
The Chiefs found a way on Monday night, but don't mistake that for reason to think all is well in Kansas City. Andy Reid's team remains bizarrely mistake-riddled on offense, and a slew of penalties kept an inferior Giants team in the game until the end. Kansas City's big-strike attack remains absent, and struggles in the red zone can no longer be seen as an anomaly.
CBS Sports - #12
Once again, the offense looked clunky in beating the Giants. That has to change. Patrick Mahomes doesn't look like himself.
Bleacher Report - #13
Let's just put it out there—the 2021 Chiefs do not look good. Offensively, teams have confused Kansas City by taking away the deep game with two deep safeties. That has led Patrick Mahomes to push his luck, and it has come back to bite him time and again. Mahomes threw another interception against the Giants and could have had several more.
Yahoo! Sports - #12
A win is better than a loss, but it's not like the Chiefs have a lot to be excited about after barely beating the Giants. There are too many turnovers and penalties and not many big plays to make up for it. The Chiefs could develop into a great team, but they're not very good right now.
Sports Illustrated - #12
Speaking of the Chiefs, I am fully aware of the issues they have had in their 4–4 start. And I know they don’t look like they have the last three years when they made things look laughably easy at times. But I still trust them to figure things out over the course of the long season, and they should still scare potential opponents down the line. I thought about having them lower than 12th, but look at the teams directly below them: the Bengals, Steelers, Browns and Patriots. I’d still pick them to beat any of those teams on a random Sunday on a neutral field (which every power ranker knows is the ultimate test).
Washington Post - #14
Patrick Mahomes threw one more interception and had another negated by an offside penalty. Travis Kelce lost a fumble. The Chiefs committed a dozen penalties. Other than eking out a victory over the Giants, there wasn’t much to like about how the Chiefs played Monday night. There’s room to wonder if this is ever going to get better this season.
Sporting News - #14
The Chiefs should have liked everything that happened before them playing on Monday night, save for the Bills and Titans taking care of business in division games. The first goal toward taking back the NFC West is beating the Giants, ahead of hosting the Packers in Week 9.
