Giants Look to Avoid 0-3 Start at Home vs. Kansas City

New York will be eager to bounce back this week following a devastating defeat at the hands of their fiercest rivals, the Dallas Cowboys. The Cowboys (1-1) have now extended their winning streak against their NFC East adversaries to an impressive nine games—the longest active streak in the NFL among division opponents. Quarterback Dak Prescott continued his dominance over the Giants (0-2), securing his 14th consecutive win against New York since suffering two losses as a rookie in 2016.

For the Giants, starting 0-2 has become all too familiar. This marks the third consecutive season and the seventh time in nine years they have stumbled out of the gate with such a record. Entering their next matchup as 5.5-point underdogs, the Giants face an uphill battle. Kansas City, their upcoming opponent, has never experienced a three-game losing streak with Patrick Mahomes under center. While the Chiefs have appeared shaky in their first two games this season, it’s worth considering the strength of their opponents—the Chargers and the Eagles—both of whom are formidable teams in their own right. The Giants, meanwhile, are struggling to find their footing, having lost 13 of their last 14 games dating back to last season.

With so much at stake and momentum clearly not on their side, New York will have to dig deep and make significant adjustments if they hope to turn their season around. Despite Russell Wilson throwing for over 400 yards against Dallas in the loss, it would be foolish to expect anything close to that consistently. What can be expected, however, is for the G-Men to attempt a good number of deep passes to keep Kansas City honest in an effort to capitalize on New York’s greatest strength offensively.

Defensively, the Giants will have to exploit the limited playmakers that Kansas City currently has, with WRs Rashee Rice and Xavier Worthy serving a suspension and dealing with an injury, respectively. Big Blue cannot come out soft like they ended the game in Dallas, when Dak Prescott drove the ball down the field with 25 seconds left to secure a game-tying field goal. The dynamic four pass rushers of Abdul Carter, Kayvon Thibodeaux, Brian Burns, and Dexter Lawrence have to get home if the Giants want this game to tilt in their favor. The “Fab Four” played well in Dallas, but ultimately they need to consistently bring their A-game, especially against Patrick Mahomes.

The game kicks off at 8:20 p.m. on Sunday, a prime-time slot that promises an intense showdown between two teams eager to get their first win of the year.