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Players to watch in home opener vs. Chiefs

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The Giants will take the field at MetLife Stadium for the first time in the 2025 season when they take on the Chiefs on Sunday Night Football.

Both teams are looking to pick up their first victory of the season, as the Giants lost a heartbreaker in Dallas last week while the Chiefs fell at home to the Eagles.

Sunday's game represents the first time the Patrick Mahomes-led Chiefs will travel to East Rutherford for an interconference matchup against the Giants.

Here are players to watch on Sunday Night Football.

QB Russell Wilson

After struggling in the season opener, Russell Wilson was in vintage form against the Cowboys in Week 2. The 36-year-old completed 73.2 percent of his passes for 450 yards, the second-highest total of his career and tied for the fourth-most in franchise history, three touchdowns, one interception and a 123.0 passer rating. He also added 23 yards on three carries (7.7 avg.).

Known for his deep ball, Wilson lived up to the bill last week. The veteran completed seven of 11 on deep passes (20+ yards) for 264 yards and all three of his touchdowns. It was the most deep passing yards by any quarterback in the NFL since at least 2016, according to Next Gen Stats.

The Chiefs' defense has had mixed results in the passing game over the first two weeks of the season. Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert racked up 318 yards and three touchdowns in the opener, but the Chiefs rebounded in Week 2 when they limited Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts to just 101 yards passing with no touchdowns. Hurts did add a rushing touchdown, one week after Herbert ran for 32 yards against Kansas City. Wilson could have the opportunity to big up some yards on the ground against the Chiefs, something he's done well over the first two games (11 rushes for 67 yards).

See the top photos from practice as the Giants prepare for their Week 3 matchup against the Chiefs.

WR Malik Nabers

Malik Nabers reminded the NFL just how good he is with his performance against the Cowboys. The second-year wideout put on a show, finishing the game with nine receptions for 167 yards and two touchdowns. It was the fourth time in his young career that he's topped 100 yards and the third time he's scored multiple touchdowns. The nine receptions brought him to 123 over his first 17 games, which resulted in him breaking Odell Beckham Jr.'s NFL record of 122 receptions through the first 17 games of their career.

The Chiefs did a great job of containing Eagles top wide receiver A.J. Brown last week, with the talented wideout totaling just five receptions for 27 yards on a team-high eight targets. DeVonta Smith had more success with four receptions for 53 yards, although 28 of those yards came on one catch. Chargers wide receivers Ladd McConkey, Keenan Allen, and Quentin Johnston had more success against the Chiefs with all three pass-catchers having at least five receptions and 68 yards to go with three combined touchdowns.

According to NGS, Nabers has caught five passes for a league-leading 105 yards and a touchdown when facing press coverage. The Chiefs have pressed outside receivers on 52.6 percent of routes, which is nearly 12 percentage points higher than any other team. Trent McDuffie is one of the NFL's top cornerbacks coming off back-to-back All-Pro selections. Nabers vs. McDuffie should make for an entertaining matchup Sunday night.

WR Wan'Dale Robinson

Nabers wasn't the only wide receiver to go off against the Cowboys. Wan'Dale Robinson put together one of the best games of his career last week, finishing with eight receptions for a career-high 142 yards and a touchdown. Robinson was on the receiving end of four of Wilson's deep targets, three of which he caught, including his first career deep touchdown. He also pulled in a 50-yard reception early in the game, which was the longest catch of his career.

The three deep receptions matched the number of deep catches he had in his entire career going into the game. Robinson and Nabers became just the fourth Giants duo to register 140+ receiving yards in the same game and the first since Beckham and Sterling Shepard in 2018.

Robinson has come up big in key situations for the Giants this season. He has been targeted on 54.5 percent of the team's third downs, the highest third down target share in the NFL, and has caught nine of those 12 targets for a league-high 117 yards and six first downs. Chamarri Conner has recorded the most snaps in the slot for the Chiefs so far this season. Through the first two games, Conner has surrendered 10 receptions for 123 yards.

OLB Kayvon Thibodeaux

Kayvon Thibodeaux has gotten his season off to a solid start. Through the first two games, the fourth-year edge rusher has registered 1.5 sacks, three quarterback hits, two tackles for loss and a pass breakup. However, the underlying stats show that he's been better than the numbers in the box score show. Thibodeaux has eight total pressures through the first two games, which has him tied with Abdul Carter for the most on the team. This puts the 24-year-old on pace for 68 pressures on the season, which would shatter his previous career-high of 43 pressures in 2023.

Thibodeaux will be faced with a tough matchup on Sunday night. With Brian Burns taking a majority of the snaps on the right edge, Thibodeaux is likely to line up a lot on the left side. This would pit him against Chiefs right tackle Jawaan Taylor, who has performed at a high level through the first two weeks. Taylor allowed two total pressures against the Chargers on 49 pass block snaps, and followed that up with zero pressures allowed on 41 pass block snaps against the Eagles. He has struggled with penalties, as he's already been called for six this season.

Against the blitz, Mahomes has completed just six of 18 passes for 85 yards, one touchdown and one interception this year. His 44.9 passer rating against the blitz is the fourth-lowest in the league, while his 33.3 completion percentage is the second-lowest. He has been getting the ball out of his hands quicker than ever before, though. Mahomes' 2.47 seconds average time to throw ranks as the second-quickest in the league and would be the lowest mark of his career. However, his 39.0 percent success rate on passes under 2.5 seconds ranks as the fourth-lowest in the NFL.

ILB Bobby Okereke

Through the first two games, Bobby Okereke has been a steadying force in the middle of the defense. The inside linebacker has had back-to-back games with double-digit tackles, totaling 26 over the two contests. Not only does he lead the NFL with his 26 total tackles, but Okereke has also done this while not missing a single tackle, according to NGS. He is the only player with more than 25 tackles on 100 percent efficiency in the first two games of a season since 2018.

No position has been hurt more by injuries than linebacker. Micah McFadden (foot) and Chris Board (chest) have both been placed on injured reserve, while Darius Muasau (concussion) and Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles (calf) have yet to practice this week. These injuries highlight Okereke's importance to the defense even more. Chiefs running backs have struggled to get things going as Isiah Pacheco and Kareem Hunt have both totaled just 47 yards through two games.

However, that production has been made up in part thanks to the legs of Mahomes. The talented quarterback has had 13 rush attempts for 123 yards and two touchdowns already, which puts him on pace to shatter his previous career-highs in rushing attempts, yards, yards per attempt, and touchdowns. All of his carries have been on scrambles, not designed runs, which means Okereke and the rest of the defense will have to keep a close eye on the quarterback tucking the ball and running.

View rare photos of the history between the New York Giants and Kansas City Chiefs ahead of their Week 3 matchup on Sunday Night Football.

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Tickets available for the Giants Women's Tailgate

Join us Sunday, Sept 28 -10am to 12:30 pm at the Ultimate New York Giants Women's Tailgate, an event designed to celebrate and unite the team's loyal fan base.

Enjoy a curated custom merchandise shop, exclusive Kendra Scott activation, tailgate games, giveaways, photo opportunities, live DJ entertainment, and more!

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