Kansas City is coming to MetLife Stadium 0-2 but the Giants aren't fooled by record over reputation.
The Giants know Kansas City still represents a high standard. It's a franchise that's been to the last seven AFC championship games and remain a measuring stick for other teams.
"They're a very good football team. They've been that way for a long time," coach Brian Daboll said. "A model of consistency in this league for the past decade plus. A lot of good football players, a lot of good coaches."
In other ways, it's an chance for the Giants to boost their reputation. At 0-2, they enter their home opener Sunday needing a win to jump-start their season. Kansas City, which has lost two one-score games, seems more vulnerable than it's been since Patrick Mahomes became the starting quarterback in 2018.
But a wounded lion is still a lion. The Giants know watching Kansas City on tape doesn't mean things will be easier. Especially since Mahomes is still capable of doing elite things on the field.
"I don't really focus on numbers too much when you're watching players," Daboll said of Mahomes. "He's as good a quarterback as there is in the league when you watch him play. He's instinctive, he's accurate, he's got leadership. He's one of the best to ever do it."
If the Giants want to avoid their first 0-3 start since 2021, stopping Mahomes is critical. It doesn't matter that Mahomes isn't playing at the level of a two-time MVP.
His passing numbers per game have declined each of the last three seasons. The offense is more middle-of-the-pack as evidenced by Kansas City being ranked 17th in total offense this season.
Yet as Dexter Lawrence said, Mahomes is still the "best of the best" and Kansas City presents the same challenges despite their slow start.
"They still got a lot of their core people and wins don't always go your way, clearly," Lawrence said. "But I got a ton of respect for them, the way they play football, the way they've been leading for years. That just don't disappear so you got to attack them like they won the Super Bowl last year.
So how does one slow down Mahomes? He can scramble to extend plays but he also is known to bait defenders at the sidelines. They'll slow up to tackle him to avoid a late-hit penalty and Mahomes will use that to run away for extra yards.
Given how Kansas City's offense has struggled, Mahomes is also the team's leading rusher at 123 yards.
"Just got to be disciplined at all levels," linebacker Brian Burns said. "The main level would probably be the back end. Once he gets scrambling, your eyes come off the man and that's what leads to big plays. So I would say between the back end and the front, staying in our rush lanes, that'll be the main key to containing him."
Discipline also applies facing the Kanas City defense. Russell Wilson knows how difficult it is having faced Kansas City five times over the past three seasons and going 1-4.
Wilson called Kansas City defensive coordinator, and former Giants interim coach, Steve Spagnuolo, one of the NFL's best. It's not easy knowing how Spagnuolo mixes up his coverages and throws quarterbacks off with how he blitzes.
"The biggest thing is trusting your eyes," Wilson said. "Trusting what you see and reaching from there. And I think we have to obviously make plays. It's going to be contested plays throughout the game."
There's urgency for both teams to get their first win. Kansas City might be more ripe for defeat than ever in the Mahomes era.
It just hasn't changed the Giants' respect or awareness for what this team, and Mahomes, is capable of.
"I'm excited to compete against him," Lawrence said. "Somebody said once every four years so you take advantage of those moments for sure."
Left tackle Andrew Thomas (foot) took more reps than last week Wednesday, Daboll said, but was still as a limited participant per the injury report . . . Darius Muasau (concussion protocol), Chauncey Golston (ankle) and Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles (calf) did not practice . . . DL Rakeem Nunez-Roches (foot), guard Jon Runyan Jr. (back), center John Michael Schmitz and receiver Wan'Dale Robinson (foot) were also listed as limited practice participants.