The New York Giants are catching the Kansas City Chiefs at a fascinating time. After dropping two straight to start the 2025 season, including a Super Bowl rematch loss to the Eagles, desperation is setting in for the Super Bowl runners-up. And now, right before their Sunday Night Football matchup at MetLife Stadium, Patrick Mahomes popped up on the injury report with a right wrist issue.
That’s the hand he throws with. And while it hasn’t stopped him from logging full practices all week, the timing isn’t ideal. He’s already off to a sluggish start this season, and if anything’s bothering him physically, say inflammation in his throwing wrist, it will only make things harder for Kansas City. Which isn’t exactly worst-case scenario for the G-Men.
Related: Giants’ final Week 3 injury report adds late wrinkle to Chiefs showdown
That’s not to say Mahomes is going to miss the game. He’s not going to. But it says something that Kansas City feels the need to trot him out, wrist issue and all, in a must-win game against what most consider to be one of the NFL’s worst teams.
Chiefs trust Mahomes to beat Giants despite wrist injury
The context just underscores how badly Kansas City needs a win. Andy Reid admitted Mahomes experienced some swelling in the wrist after last week’s loss to Philly. Still, Mahomes practiced fully all week and carries no injury designation into Sunday night.
The fact that the Chiefs aren’t even entertaining the idea of resting him against a winless Giants team in a non-conference game tells you everything you need to know about where their heads are at.
Kansas City could’ve leaned on backup Gardner Minshew. But apparently, the same guy who had a Pro Bowl-worthy run with the Colts in 2023 and has 46 career starts can’t be trusted to take on Big Blue. That’s either a major vote of no confidence in Minshew or a total indictment of how little the Chiefs trust their team without Mahomes, even against a team like the G-Men.
But let’s not overlook the disrespect here. Lior Lampert of Arrowhead Addict went as far as saying, “The Giants are among the worst clubs in football and should be a cakewalk for Kansas City, no matter who’s under center.”
That’s a bonkers take. If anything, it just goes to show how far this franchise has fallen that people think anyone can beat them, even a middling journeyman. That might be true if they were fully healthy, but they aren’t. They’ll be without star receiver Rashee Rice, and Xavier Worthy, and Jalen Royals are listed as questionable for the contest. So, if ever there was a time to sneak a win, it’s Sunday.
Mahomes will play. And he’ll probably look like Mahomes. But the Giants still need to treat it like an opportunity, because those have been few and far between lately.
