KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- When does the misery end?
The New York Giants (2-6) not only lost a heartbreaker to the Kansas City Chiefs, 20-17, at Arrowhead Stadium on Monday night, but they lost a few more playmakers. No wonder they didn't have a winning drive in them.
Seriously, does it ever stop? This is getting borderline silly. Already without wide receiver Kenny Golladay (knee) and running back Saquon Barkley (ankle), the Giants lost two more pass catchers as Sterling Shepard left in the second quarter with a quadriceps injury and Dante Pettis was hurt earlier in the half trying to recover his own muffed punt.
"I don't have a final diagnosis on [Shepard's injury]," coach Joe Judge said afterwards. "It looked like he got twisted around."
Not to mention rookie wide receiver Kadarius Toney was clearly compromised by his ankle before leaving and then returning after a thumb injury. It’s as if nobody can stay on the field, and making life way more difficult for quarterback Daniel Jones.
"It's frustrating," said Jones, who at times had Darius Slayton, Collin Johnson and John Ross as his only healthy wide receivers. "And those guys don't want to miss time. They're working as hard as they possibly can to get back. So we got to trust it and stay at it. It's our job to prepare and play with the guys who are up."
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The games missed are piling up.
Barkley: 3
Golladay: 3
Shepard: 3
Toney: 2
This doesn’t account for all five playmakers leaving a game in the first half because of their respective injuries. It makes quarterback Daniel Jones' play all that much more impressive.
QB breakdown: Jones’ evening started horribly. His first pass attempt went for an interception deep in Giants territory that cost them seven points.
But he settled down and finished 22-of-32 passing for 222 yards with two touchdown passes and the interception. He protected the football and made enough plays for the Giants to move the ball consistently.
Still, Jones set the record for loses in prime-time games to start a career. He is now 0-7.
Eye-popping NextGen Stats: The Giants used a formation of one defensive lineman, three linebackers and seven defensive backs on two red zone plays in the fourth quarter. Both resulted in sacks.
The one defensive lineman, Leonard Williams, had a key sack/fumble on third down of Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, who was forced to hold the ball for almost five second before having it knocked out of his hands. It forced Kansas City to settle for a field goal.
Cornerback Keion Crossen, who the package was created for, had a sack on the other.
It was all part of a masterful game plan by Giants defensive coordinator Patrick Graham, who had Mahomes out of sync most of the evening.