Russell Wilson hears the boos as Giants lose to Kansas City, fall to 0-3
Giants quarterback Russell Wilson and head coach Brian Daboll on the sideline after an interception by Wilson against Kansas City on Sunday at MetLife Stadium. Credit: David Meisenholder
The Giants came home to MetLife Stadium hoping to build on a breakout offensive showing. They’re now building a broken mess.
After a 22-9 loss to Kansas City on Sunday night, the Giants are 0-3 for the first time since 2021. They’ve lost 14 of their last 15 games, including eight of their last nine at home, and already have lost some of their fans’ patience.
Russell Wilson’s second interception prompted chants of “We Want Dart!” in the second quarter. The fans didn’t get their wish until the third quarter, when rookie Jaxson Dart checked in for a play.
Dart played three snaps in the second half, including two straight for the first time. He entered to cheers while Wilson returned to boos. The boos got louder when both of those two drives stalled after Wilson scrambled.
For the second time in three games, the Giants were held to fewer than 10 points. The offense didn’t have a play longer than 26 yards and reverted to its poor showing against the Commanders two weeks ago.
“I’d be booing too, to be honest with you, in terms of not being good enough,” coach Brian Daboll said of the offense. “Not scoring. Not finishing. I understand that . . . We got to be better.”
Wilson entered Sunday 4-0 at MetLife Stadium, including a Super Bowl win in 2014. This was a far cry from those efforts as he finished 18-for-32 for 160 yards and a 43.8 quarterback rating and was sacked twice.
It was the first time since Dec. 3, 2023, that Wilson had multiple interceptions in a game. He threw as many passes to Kansas City as he did to Malik Nabers, who had two catches for 13 yards, both career lows.
The boos didn’t help after Wilson was sacked after Dart’s 3-yard run in the third quarter. They continued after his 8-yard run on the next play.
When Dart took the field in the fourth quarter, he was cheered again after consecutive handoffs to Cam Skattebo. But when he jogged back for Wilson’s return, the boos followed and got louder when Wilson was stopped for a 1-yard loss.
“There’s always tough moments. You gotta have thick skin,” Wilson said. “You got to be able to know how you are, know the player that you are, know what you’re capable of.”
What that is is in doubt after the Giants had 281 yards of offense. Both of Wilson’s interceptions came on deep balls in which his targets were well covered.
Wan’Dale Robinson was the intended receiver on the first one, but Kansas City safety Chris Roland-Wallace ran over to snare it. On the second, Wilson eyed Nabers in the end zone, but Jaylen Watson caught it instead.
It made for a tough day for Nabers, who didn’t have a catch until the fourth quarter and was displeased after the game.
“How frustrating do you think? We’re 0-3,” he said. “Can’t win a game. It’s frustrating. You ask me how frustrated I am. Frustrated. We can’t win.”
Despite the offensive struggles, the Giants trailed by only 9-6 at halftime. Skattebo scored his second touchdown in as many games on a 13-yard run, but the kick was blocked, leaving the score at 6-6 before Harrison Butker kicked his third field goal (54, 48, 28 yards) as time expired in the first half.
Skattebo finished with 60 carries on 10 yards and also was the Giants’ leading receiver with six catches for 61 yards.
But the defense, which forced Patrick Mahomes to throw two backward passes for fumbles, couldn’t hold firm all night.
On the first drive of the third quarter, Mahomes connected with Tyquan Thornton for a 5-yard score and a 16-6 lead.
In the fourth quarter, Thornton came up huge again with a 33-yard catch against Dru Phillips. That set up Kareem Hunt’s 1-yard touchdown run for a 22-9 lead with 6:03 left.
Mahomes finished with 224 yards on 22-of-37 passing and Thornton had five catches for 71 yards.
The Giants had bad luck from the start. Kicker Graham Gano injured his groin during pregame introductions. He sat out the first half and returned briefly in the second to kick a 25-yard field goal that made it 16-9.
Running back Tyrone Tracy Jr. was a different story. He started after being relegated to kick return duty last week but took a hard hit out of bounds in the first quarter. He was ruled out with a shoulder injury.
“They didn’t tell me anything yet. We’ll figure it out [Monday],” Tracy said. “I feel good. Sore, but I feel good. I told them I could go back in, but they didn’t.”
The Giants will host the 3-0 Chargers next week. Wilson’s future as a starter will continue to be discussed.
The boos said enough from the fans, but Daboll wouldn’t commit to any changes.
“Yeah, you guys have asked me about players after games,’’ he said. “I’m not going to answer that.’’
Notes & quotes: Andrew Thomas returned at left tackle for his first game since Oct. 13, 2024. He started the first four drives but yielded to rookie Marcus Mbow the rest of the game.
Evan Barnes covers the Giants for Newsday. He previously covered the Brooklyn Nets, Memphis football and the Memphis Grizzlies and also covered prep sports in Los Angeles.
