Scoring big against high-powered Kansas City Chiefs the only way for Giants to win Monday night

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Monday night looked like an obvious, automatic, blowout loss when the Giants’ schedule came out in the spring.

But this is the fall, and teams don’t always play up to their reputations when the lights come on.

The Kansas City Chiefs (3-4) are not the team everyone thought they were. That’s a fact. It’s written on the final scores, faces and Instagram accounts of KC’s top players.

The mighty Chiefs are not in Kansas (City) anymore.

“This might be one of the most toxic fan bases in all of sports,” Kansas City safety Tyrann Mathieu posted on Instagram a couple days ago as frustrations spilled over.

The unknown of this Monday Night Football clash is who the Giants (2-5) are.

Are they capable of going into Arrowhead Stadium with this many injuries and replicating their Week 4 upset of the Saints at New Orleans’ Superdome, which they accomplished with a nearly full arsenal of weapons?

Are they the resilient team that rebounded from back-to-back butt-kickings from the Cowboys and Rams to snuff out the Carolina Panthers last week?

Or did those losses to Dallas and L.A. highlight their kryptonite: the inability to match points with other top NFL offenses?

One thing is clear: Joe Judge isn’t letting his team get fooled by the Chiefs’ league-high 17 turnovers and uncharacteristic 27-3 loss to the Titans last week.

“I think it’s a foolish narrative for us to buy into if we think this team isn’t as good as they are,” Judge said this week. “This is a damn good team. They’re very explosive, they’re very dangerous. These guys are going to be playing their best ball Monday night. We’re going out into a tough atmosphere. We’ve got to get ready to play our best football.”

No one will be surprised if Daniel Jones’ offense scores some points on Steve Spagnuolo’s struggling defense, though, especially with electric rookie Kadarius Toney back in the lineup. The Chiefs can’t stop a nosebleed. They’re giving up 404 yards and 29 points a game.

The issue is whether the Giants can keep pace for four quarters with Patrick Mahomes’ downfield shots to Tyreek Hill and relentless peppering of tight end Travis Kelce.

For all of the Chiefs’ woes, their losses have all come to teams in a different class than the Giants: the Ravens, Chargers, Bills and Titans.

But they thumped the Eagles and Washington on the road by an average of 15 points in their two games against NFC East teams much more comparable to the Giants’ level.

Washington led the Chiefs, 13-10, at halftime and didn’t score again in a 31-13 Kansas City win. The Eagles drew within 28-23 with 12:42 left in the fourth quarter, then surrendered consecutive Hill touchdowns on the way to a 42-30 loss.

The challenge isn’t scoring on Andy Reid’s team, which has lost its first quarters this season by a combined score of 49-34. The challenge keeping up with Reid’s Chiefs all game.

The Chiefs have outscored teams 110-73 in second halves this season. They’ve punted only 12 times in seven games.

The Giants, by comparison, have punted 26 times and been outscored in second halves, 94-85. Their strongest quarter has been the first, in which they’ve outscored opponents, 13-6.

“Watching the tape, I’m telling you, I was pulling my hair out,” defensive coordinator Patrick Graham said of the explosive Chiefs. “These guys are running all over the field. They’re moving the ball ... and they can score at any moment. You make a mistake, they can score.”

Reid said in a conference call with the New York media on Thursday that the Chiefs’ problems start with him. In addition to their turnovers, they’re top 10 in penalties and bottom six in defense.

“You guys know me well enough, that’s where I start,” Reid said. “You’ve got to be able to look in the mirror and make sure that you’re giving the guys the right things to perform at the best of their abilities. If you’re not, you’d better do something different, change up whatever spots you think need changed up. But that’s where I start, always.”

Mahomes, the 2018 NFL MVP, has been reckless with the football, reminiscent of some of his backyard football decision-making at Texas Tech. He has thrown a league-leading nine interceptions after throwing 11 total in the 2018 and 2019 seasons combined (29 games).

“You can just watch the tape and know that I need to play better in order to have success,” Mahomes said after posting a career-low 6.0 quarterback rating in last week’s loss at Tennessee. “There were plays where guys were open. There were plays where we had matchups down the field that I didn’t hit.”

The Chiefs have enough firepower and experience on the big stage, however, to set off fireworks and recover in a flash.

Kansas City has won five straight AFC West division titles. The Chiefs have been to three straight AFC Championship Games. They’ve been to two consecutive Super Bowls. And they won the whole thing in 2019.

“The Chiefs have been a top team in the league,” the Giants’ Jones said. “I don’t think there’s anyone on our team or in this building who’s going to overlook them.”

It wouldn’t say much for the Giants if they did overlook this kind of opponent. What will speak loudest is how many points they put on the board on Monday night, and whether Jones can keep pace with Mahomes.