The Kansas City Chiefs inaugurated their win column on Sunday night in an entertaining game against the New York Giants. Patrick Mahomes and company faced a tough team in the first half, as the Giants scored six points ahead of halftime thanks to rookie running back Cam Skatteboo. The second half belonged to the Chiefs, thought, as they added 13 points to close the deal against one of the worst teams in the league.

Winning is always positive, but when it comes to the Chiefs, this victory needs to be taken with a pinch of salt. Per Sumer Sports, they posted 0.17 expected points added (EPA) and had a 50.7% success rate, which is a lot compared to a team that had only one positive thing going on offense.

New York found something positive in this loss, as they succeeded on 12 of 24 designed rushes (50%), their best since Week 10 of the 2024 season against the Carolina Panthers, per Doug Analytics. Cam Skatteboo was the heart and soul of the Giants' offense, as he posted 121 total yards with one touchdown rushing.

On the other hand, the Chiefs faced Dexter Lawrence, Brian Burns, Kayvon Thibodeaux, and Abdul Carter on 29 snaps (43%), three of them on 53 snaps (79%) and at least two of them in 62 snaps (93%) and still survived against the Giants' best unit.

Mahomes connected with wide receiver Tyquan Thornton for five receptions, 71 yards and one touchdown. He distributed the ball among JuJu Smith-Schuster (4 receptions for 55 yards), Marquise Brown (four receptions for 42 yards) and Travis Kelce (four receptions for 26 yards), showing that they still have a decent unit.

It is always good to win, but after two losses in which their weaknesses were exposed, are the Chiefs back in their best form? How soon can fans expect them to play at the highest level?

Ongoing Red-zone Struggles and a Soft Opponent

The Chiefs tallied 306 total yards (201 passing and 105 rushing), but they still allowed 281 total yards from the Giants. They only made six more plays than the Giants (67 against 61), averaged the same yards per play (4.6), but took a major advantage on 3rd-down efficiency (8-15 against 1-10).

Considering that they played Super Bowl LIX last season and that the Giants are just starting another rebuilding process, these aren't the numbers you expect to see from a team with Super Bowl expectations. They weren't dominant last season and won multiple one-possession games, but most of them were against competitive opponents ... not against the Giants.

The Chiefs might not face an easy matchup until Week 13, at least. They will host the Baltimore Ravens, a dangerous team eager to dethrone them in the AFC. Then, they will go against the revamped Jacksonville Jaguars. Week 6 will be a tough matchup against the Detroit Lions, a team that went from worst to best in three weeks.

The Las Vegas Raiders, Washington Commanders, Buffalo Bills, Denver Broncos ,and Indianapolis Colts will face off against the Chiefs in the next five weeks, before they visit a disappointing Dallas Cowboys team at the end of November.

It will be hard to see one of these teams rolling over like the Giants did on Sunday, and things could go south if they don't build on Week 3's win. The Chiefs' offense has scored in 50% of its red zone trips, per Football Insights. That's a ways away from the 100% the Eagles, 88% from the Steelers, 75% from the Jets and Commanders, 69% from the Lions, and 67% from the Bills, to name a few.

The season is still young and the Chiefs have room for growth, but when you see how fast the Lions turned their situation around and how competitive the Eagles, Bills and Broncos still are ... plus the new level the Jaguars and Colts are displaying, things don't look that favorable for the Chiefs.