The Kansas City Chiefs avoided losing three straight home games for the first time in the Patrick Mahomes era, but their performance wasn't anything close to awe-inspiring or reassuring.
An extra day of preparation and a raucous crowd at Arrowhead Stadium didn't help the reigning AFC champions solve their glaring issues. A combination of sloppy play and careless penalties forced a nail-biting finish on Monday night, with the Chiefs narrowly defeating the inferior New York Giants, 20-17.
"I think this is who they are... It's a lot to overcome," CBS Sports NFL insider Jason La Canfora told the Reiter Than You show on Tuesday. "I think that their confidence is wavering a little bit. The adversity is leading some -- including Patrick Mahomes -- to try to do too much, too often, and that's snowballing and compounding the issues of turnovers and some of the mistakes.
"That should've been a homecoming game for them last night, and it was anything but. I think it just reinforces where they are, which is a very flawed team that needs the quarterback to play like a runaway MVP right now for them to get to where they thought they were going... I think they'll find ways to beat bad teams, they'll struggle against the better teams in the AFC..."
Kansas City's offense scuffled throughout the night. Although they traveled 70 yards on 13 plays during their opening drive, Mahomes wound up throwing his NFL-leading 10th interception at the Giants' five-yard line. He also caught a huge break late in the fourth quarter, as an offside penalty negated a potential game-winning interception by New York.
Overall, Mahomes threw for 275 yards with one touchdown, and according to Next Gen Stats, he went 5 for 16 on passes thrown 10-plus yards downfield. Chiefs star tight end Travis Kelce was also in a funk, as he recorded just four catches for 27 yards with a fumble. Suffice to say, a far cry from what their offense -- high-flying and high-octane -- once was.
Kansas City (4-4) will host the red-hot Green Bay Packers (7-1) in a marquee Week 9 matchup on Sunday. According to FiveThirtyEight's projections, the Chiefs now have a 48-percent chance to reach the playoffs and a 20-percent chance to win the AFC West.
The entire NFL conversation between La Canfora and Reiter can be accessed in the audio player above.
You can follow the Reiter Than You show on Twitter @sportsreiter and @CBSSportsRadio, and Tom Hanslin @TomHanslin