Week 8 of the NFL season comes to an end Monday night with a game between the New York Giants and Kansas City Chiefs. This is the first meeting between these teams since a 12-9 Giants overtime win in 2017. This time around, the Chiefs are 10.5-point favorites at home with an over/under of 52 points.
Despite being big favorites, the Chiefs will begin Monday with a losing record and in last place in the AFC West. Kansas City has already suffered losses to the Ravens, Chargers, and Bills, not to mention last week’s 27-3 loss to the Titans. The schedule moving forward is also a little unforgiving, so the Chiefs need to take care of business on Monday night.
Meanwhile, this looks like it could be another lost season for the Giants. New York is 2-5, with three of those losses coming by at least two touchdowns. However, the Giants are coming off an impressive 25-3 win over the Panthers, giving them a slight glimmer of hope.
A Little Banged Up
The Giants are expecting to be without some of the top playmakers on Monday, as Saquon Barkley and Kenny Golladay are expected to miss the game. The good news is that Sterling Shepard and Ladarius Toney are expected to be available for Daniel Jones.
The Giants survived without any of those four players last week, although Jones isn’t exactly putting together an impressive season with just five touchdown passes and four interceptions through seven games.
It was the New York defense that won the game last week, dominating the Carolina offense and getting Sam Darnold benched. Of course, that performance is an aberration compared to the rest of the season. The Giants have allowed at least 30 points three times this season, including two games against the Cowboys and Rams in which they gave up 82 total points.
Something’s Not Right
Last week’s loss to the Titans was perhaps the most conclusive evidence that something is off with the Kansas City offense. While the numbers are still there, Patrick Mahomes has also thrown nine interceptions in seven games and been sacked nine times in his last three games.
Meanwhile, the Chiefs aren’t creating a lot of explosive plays in the running game outside of Mahomes and becoming overly reliant on Tyreek Hill and Travis Kelce.
The Kansas City defense isn’t helping matters either, giving up at least 27 points in six of seven games this season. The defensive line has underperformed with regard to generating a consistent pass rush, tallying only eight sacks in seven games. That has made the Chiefs vulnerable through the air despite being surprisingly solid against the run this season.
Any Trust?
Frankly, it’s difficult to trust either of these teams to put together a complete performance. However, the Chiefs have dynamic playmakers on offense, and even if they haven’t been perfect this year, the Giants have looked porous against elite offensive teams this year.
The Giants won’t be able to keep pace if the KC offense gets rolling, so bet on the Chiefs to win and cover on Monday night.
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