Patrick Mahomes throws down Kansas City Chiefs challenge ahead of Giants clash

The Kansas City Chiefs are navigating uncharted territory as Patrick Mahomes prepares his team for a Sunday night clash with the New York Giants on September 21 as he sends his team a challenge to rise up to.

For the first time in the two-time NFL MVP’s career as a starter, the Chiefs have opened a season 0-2, raising questions about how the three-time champions will respond under pressure.

Through two weeks, the 29-year-old has completed 58.8 percent of his passes for 445 yards, tallying two touchdowns and one interception whilst n the ground, he has added 123 rushing yards and two scores.

That’s already more than a quarter of the way to his career-high of 389 rushing yards in 2023, highlighting just how much the team has had to depend on his talent to remain in contests against the Los Angeles Chargers and Philadelphia Eagles.

But despite the difficult start, the quarterback has made clear he views the situation not with despair, but as an opportunity for the Chiefs to prove why they are one of the most respected winners across global sports.

“Obviously, being 0-2, there’s more urgency than even last week,” Mahomes said. “And I feel like we were very urgent last week.

“Definitely new territory as far as being 0-2, but knowing that we got the guys for it – we have the mindset of going out there and being even better.

“In my eyes, it looks like what an opportunity – what an opportunity to prove who we are as the Kansas City Chiefs.  “Coming back from 0-2 and trying to build up to win a big football game on Sunday Night Football and try and get our season going in the right direction from there.”

Mahomes reveals the key to bouncing back amid tough NFL start

After three Super Bowl wins and five AFC Championship titles, the Chiefs have become feared for their never-say-die mentality, which is part of why they managed to achieve a 15-2 record despite being in 11 one-score games in 2024.

That attitude saw the likes of Mahomes, Chris Jones and Travis Kelce rally their young rookies to push to the Super Bowl LIX game last campaign, although it ended in a brutal defeat to the Eagles.

So, whilst the 0-2 start is far from ideal, battling back from being under the cosh and facing adversity is not unchartered territory for a locker room full of strong personalities – and Pat believes this will be key again vs the Giants.

“I think it’s just the people that we have in the locker room,” Mahomes added. “Even though we have never been 0-2, we’ve had stretches where we’ve lost big games kind of consecutively, and guys have responded.

“It’s about the character of the guys in the locker room more than it is the play on the football field, and I think that we have the guys that are going to continue to work.

“They’re not going to let this push them down, they’re going to use it if anything as motivation to be even better.  “I think that gives me [the] most faith, and then the coaches that we have, they’ll continue to push to be even better.

“We’ll have a great week of practice this week and know we’re going to have to play our best football to win a game against a good football team in the Giants.”