Mistakes, Penalties Doom Giants in 20-17 Loss to Kansas City Chiefs

Giants fall to 2-6 as they continue to hurt their own cause.

The New York Giants squandered a golden opportunity to stack back-to-back wins by committing a mistake-filled performance against a struggling Kansas City Chiefs team that held on for a 20-17 win to keep its playoff hopes alive.

The Giants, who fall to 2-6 on the season, were thwarted by their own hand, committing ten penalties for 88 yards, including two big ones in the fourth quarter that prolonged Chiefs' scoring drives.

The Giants also failed to cash in on all the turnovers by the Chiefs, who came into Monday Nights game with a league-leading 17 turnovers. The Giants failed to capitalize on an interception of a Patrick Mahomes pass on the opening drive by safety Julian Love in the end zone when Giants quarterback Daniel Jones threw his lone interception of the game on the ensuing drive on a pass intended for Darius Slayton.

The Chiefs capitalized on the Giants' miscue when Mahomes connected with Tyreek Hill for a six-yard touchdown at 6:12 in the first quarter to take an early 7-0 lead, the first touchdown the Giants gave up in the first quarter this season.

The Giants tied things up 7-7 at the start of the second quarter after converting on a 4th-and-1 when Jones found tight end Kyle Rudolph in the end zone.

The Chiefs made it 14-7 on Derrick Gore's 3-yard touchdown run to cap an 11-play drive. The Giants then had to settle for a 23-yard field goal by Graham Gano when their drive, punctuated by a 41-yard reception by running back Devontae Booker's stalled.

After a scoreless third quarter, The Giants took a 17-14 lead on tight end Evan Engram's first touchdown reception of the year, a 5-yard pass. The score came following the Giants' recovery of a fumble forced by safety Logan Ryan against tight end Travis Kelce and recovered by cornerback James Bradberry to set up the Giants on the 43-yard line.

Kansas City tied the score at 17 on Harrison Butker's 36-yard field goal at 8:56 in the fourth quarter. They then made it a 20-17 game with 1:12 left to play on Butker's 34-yarder after cornerback Darnay Holmes interception on that drive was nullified due to an off-side penalty on Oshane Ximines, and two additional defensive penalties helped keep the Chiefs' drive alive.

Daniel Jones Sets More Franchise Marks

Giants quarterback Daniel Jones finished 22 of 32 for 22 yards, two touchdowns, and one interception. His two touchdowns moved him past fellow Duke alumnus and Giants quarterback Dave Brown for the seventh-most passing touchdowns in franchise history. Also, his 22 completions moved him past Y.A. Tittle (731) for the seventh-most completions in Giants history.

James Bradberry Sets New Giants Franchise Mark

Giants cornerback James Bradberry's pass breakup in the first half made him the first Giants player and the fifth in NFL history to record a pass defensed in each of the first eight games of a season.

Leonard Williams Achieves a Career Milestone

Giants defensive lineman Leonard Williams recorded one sack against the Chiefs, giving him three consecutive games with at least 1.0 sack for the first time in his career.

Injury Updates

The hits just keep coming to the Giants wide receivers.

Dante Pettis, who took over the punt return duties after the team lost Jabrill Peppers, suffered a shoulder injury on a muffed punt in the second quarter and was ruled out.

Sterling Shepard suffered a quad injury in the second quarter and was ruled out of the game.

Kadarius Toney suffered a thumb injury on his left hand in the fourth quarter but returned to the game.

Up Next

The Giants will return home to host the Las Vegas Raiders, who have won their last two since the resignation for now-former head coach Jon Gruden. The Raiders are 2-1 on the road and 1-1 vs. the NFC, having lost to Chicago in Week 5 but having defeated Philadelphia last week.

The Raiders lead the all-time regular-season series against the Giants, 8-5, and last faced New York in East Rutherford on December 3, 2017. The New York Giants receiving corps was hit again by the injury bug during their Monday night against the Kansas City Chiefs.

Veteran wide receiver Sterling Shepard, back from a hamstring strain that cost him three of the past four games, left the game just before halftime with a left quad injury and was declared out by the Giants. Shepard finished his evening with four receptions for 25 yards.

Shepard had been listed as questionable on the Giants injury report coming into this week's game.

Earlier in the game, receiver Dante Pettis suffered a shoulder injury after trying to recover a punt he had muffed and left the field to have x-rays on his shoulder. Pettis was declared out of the game.

The Giants came into this week's game without Kenny Golladay, their top receiver, who missed his third straight game with a knee injury.

The Giants are also missing running back Saquon Barkley (ankle) on offense. In addition, left tackle Andrew Thomas (ankle) and receiver C.J. Board (broken arm) are both on injured reserve. 

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