Kansas City Chiefs

Despite the win, the Kansas City Chiefs' performance against the Giants is raising eyebrows

Updated Nov. 2, 2021 6:39 p.m. ET

This was not how the Kansas City Chiefs were expecting their season to go: a bottom-tier defense, a struggling offense and a .500 record that has them tied for last place in the rugged AFC West.

This is an aberration unlike any Kansas City has experienced since the Patrick Mahomes era began in 2018. That era includes an MVP and a first-team All-Pro selection for Mahomes, a Super Bowl win for K.C. and back-to-back AFC championships.

But this season, Mahomes' Chiefs are in danger of missing the playoffs after sputtering to a rocky 4-4 start. Their defense is near the bottom of the league in terms of efficiency, and Mahomes' self-inflicted shortcomings have created concerns in Kansas City.

And although it resulted in a 20-17 victory, their Week 8 outing against the Giants provided the opposite of evidence that things are getting better.

The Chiefs' win Monday included a pedestrian effort –– certainly by his standards –– from Mahomes, who finished 29-for-48 passing for 275 yards, a TD and an interception, good for a 75.6 passer rating, his third-lowest of the season.

And while the victory saved them from an onslaught of criticism and very well could have preserved their playoff hopes, it didn't shield them from detracting remarks.

"[Mahomes] is riding the magic carpet, but he's playing on borrowed time because in this league, all the jump passes, left-handed passes, no-look passes, they can only take you so far," Skip Bayless said on Tuesday's edition of "Undisputed."

"The greatest quarterback of all time [Brady] doesn't do any of that."

But Bayless' critiques weren't limited to Mahomes. He also took umbrage with the K.C. coaching.

"I'm blaming Andy [Reid] as much or more than I'm blaming Patrick for this. [Mahomes'] coach went and found him in the draft and traded up to snag him and said to the NFL world, ‘Watch this.’ The coach loves to be the smartest man in the room."

Shannon Sharpe was just as attentive to the Chiefs' litany of problems.

"We're seeing Mahomes turn the ball over week after week. [One possession], they run the ball down the field for a touchdown and come back out the next possession, throw four passes and have to punt," Sharpe said. "Since Tampa [in Super Bowl LV], defenses have lined up in shell coverage with two deep safeties. Every defense they've seen since has done that.

"They're not trying to disguise, saying, 'We dare you to run it.’"

Sharpe's sentiments appear to ring true.

Normally a potent vertical passing offense, Mahomes averaged 2.1 air yards on his completions in the Giants game, the lowest mark of his career (minimum 15 attempts). He went just 2-for-13 (15%) on passes of 10 yards or more, also a career low, according to ESPN Stats & Info.

It's a stretch for K.C. that's extreme in its rarity. The squad hasn't lost more than four games in a regular season since 2017 (when they went 10-6). This time around, the Chiefs have four losses in just eight games.

What's more, the Chiefs are tied with Jacksonville for the league's worst turnover margin (-11) and are allowing the fourth-most yards per game (391.5).

Mahomes, meanwhile, leads the league in picks, with 10 (the only QB with double-digit interceptions), is 15th in the NFL in passer rating (at 94.5, minimum 100 completions) and has been sacked 16 times (he was sacked 22 times all of last season).

But despite Kansas City's porous start, Nick Wright's focus remains on the one stat about Monday that he believes truly matters: the W.

"All these terrible things the Chiefs did, the terrible plays and numbers, and you wake up this morning, and you're like, 'Oh, they won!" Wright exclaimed on "First Things First."

"Was I impressed with the Chiefs? No, I was not. Was the game closer than it should've been? Yes. Now we're at a very nice point in the season. … They have the same number of wins as the Chargers, Browns and Pats. It's a fresh start."

Kicking off the Chiefs' "fresh start" in Week 9? The current No. 1 seed in the NFC, the Green Bay Packers.

Let the second half of the season begin.