Giants vs. Chiefs: How good is Kansas City?

The Kansas City Chiefs invade MetLife Stadium this week to take on your New York Giants. So, let’s turn to Joel Thorman of Arrowhead Pride to lead more about KC in this week’s “Five Questions” segment.

Ed: The Chiefs started 5-0, but have lost three of four. Which team are they?

Joel: I'm afraid I can't completely answer that yet. They're not as good as the 5-0 team would make you think. They are fifth in scoring but their offense is still prone to lapses where they can't do anything. Kareem Hunt is the front-runner for the offensive rookie of the year award but he quietly hasn't scored since Week 3. They're also not as bad as losing three out of their last four would indicate. The Raiders, Steelers and Cowboys are the teams they lost to and all three of those teams are going to be playoff contenders down the stretch (OK, probably not the Raiders). I don't find too much shame in going to Dallas and losing to a good Cowboys team. It happens. The Chiefs will most likely revert back to the good team the rest of the season because they don't face many good teams. The best one in the second half of the schedule is the 5-4 Bills and something the Chiefs are good at doing is beating the bad teams. They should perform well down the stretch and win the AFC West.

Ed: How well do Chiefs fans travel? With the state of the Giants right now and the apathy of the fan base I would expect a lot of fairly inexpensive tickets to be available for KC fans in the Northeast who want to see their team. should we expect a lot of red Chiefs jerseys in MetLife Stadium?

Joel: I think you'll see your fair share of red in the stadium. There are plenty of New York Chiefs fans that will want to see the game. The Chiefs were well-represented in Dallas but the franchise also has long ties to the city of Dallas. The one quirky part of the schedule is that the Chiefs will be back in a couple of weeks to play the Jets in Week 13, so will some Chiefs fans wait for that game instead?

Ed: If the Giants are going to have any chance to win Sunday, what are the one or two most likely ways they could make that happen?

Joel: Two things. The Chiefs aren't going to turn it over so the Giants can't, either. The Chiefs’ offense against the Giants’ defense is a good matchup for the Chiefs so the Giants can't give them anything easy. The other thing is the Giants running the ball well. The Chiefs did a decent job against Zeke Elliott two weeks ago but they've struggled against the run all season. The Giants can do it, too, if they're committed to it. That's the one area I'll be watching the closest.

Ed: If you could take a single player off the Giants roster NOT NAMED ODELL BECKHAM JR. -- who is on IR, anyway -- who would it be? Why?

Joel: The first name I thought of Evan Engram. The Chiefs are coming off a couple of games where their No. 2 tight end Demetrius Harris dropped a few balls and Andy Reid admitted they looked into the possibility of claiming TE Martellus Bennett off waivers last week. The Chiefs need more pass rush help so Olivier Vernon (minus the contract) or Jason Pierre-Paul are options, too.

Ed: Giants fans, of course, are very familiar with Andy Reid. What do KC fans think of Big Red?

Joel: Overall, I think fans are happy with the job he's done with the Chiefs They are winning 10-plus games a year and they're playoff contenders each year. However, we're starting to see more and more this season that Chiefs fans aren't satisfied anymore with just making the playoffs. They want to make noise in the playoffs. They want to win multiple playoff games. After the 5-0 start this year the optimism was soaring in Kansas City but things have been pretty down after they lost three of their last four. I'm not really sure which way this season is going to go but after beating the Patriots in New England on opening night the expectations were set very high. I imagine the view of Andy Reid could change if the Chiefs don't make some sort of run in the playoffs this year.