How KC Will Avoid Misery at MetLife

The way we think about this era of Kansas City Chiefs football could fundamentally change tonight. Winning against the 0-2 New York Giants on the road puts us all on the path back to normalcy, back to how we usually feel about this team. Losing at MetLife Stadium tonight would bring us to the franchise's lowest ebb since Patrick Mahomes became an NFL starter. Is the golden era of Chiefs football coming to an end, or can the Chiefs keep the good times rolling? To keep the magic alive, KC must now find a way to apply pressure to their opponent.

According to the guys at PFF, the Chiefs have the third-worst pass rush rate in football. Making the opposition uncomfortable in the pocket pays dividends in the modern NFL, and the Chiefs can't do it. I don't want to focus on excuses, but facing off with two highly-regarded quarterbacks in Justin Herbert and Jalen Hurts, not to mention the highly-regarded offensive lines that protect them, may have something to do with KC's struggles in this area. When the Giants faced off with a Micah Parsons-less Dallas Cowboys defense, Russell Wilson finished the game with 450 passing yards and three touchdowns. Avoiding that kind of production is key to a Chiefs victory tonight, but Kansas City's defense will be missing a significant and pricey piece.

Chiefs defensive end Mike Danna will miss tonight's game due to a quad injury, so KC needs rookie Ashton Gillotte to step up. PFF graded both guys in the mid-50's so far this season, so perhaps the younger player with a higher ceiling could make the team better in the long-term. We'll see if Gillotte is ready to live up to the moment with his increased playing time tonight. Add him to the list of young Chiefs defenders that need to play well to keep this dynasty alive. It's nothing new to Steve Spagnuolo, and despite this concern about a lack of pass rush, Spags has still kept games close against two legit Super Bowl contenders this season.

Last week, Hurts finished with 101 passing yards and led his offense to score just 20 points. Even the great Saquon Barkley only ran for 88 yards. Herbert torched KC's young secondary in the Chiefs season opener, but Spags still put his defense in a spot where one stop on 3rd and 15 would have given Mahomes the ball back with a chance to nail a two-minute drive to win the game. This defense is not that far off from being good, despite being young. The ability to trust young talent like Gillotte, Chamarri Conner and others factors heavily into the sustainability of this dynasty. To trust the underpaid youth on the roster means everything to a championship-worthy franchise in any league with a salary cap.

That's also true for the Giants and their first-round draft pick Abdul Carter. He, along with Brian Burns and nose tackle Dexter Lawrence II, has the ability to wreck plays and ruin an opponent's game-plan. Andy Reid will need to win the chess match tonight by keeping these pieces out of dangerous positions, and I think he'll succeed just often enough for KC to get the win. The Chiefs shouldn't need 40 to beat the Giants like the Cowboys last week. The same Russ that put up a billion passing yards last week also failed to score a touchdown against the Washington Commanders in Week 1. The start of the season can be unpredictable and weird, but I'm predicting that our Chiefs begin to right the ship with a 27-20 victory tonight.