5 things to watch as Giants face Chiefs in Week 3 of 2025 NFL season

The Giants were a lot more competitive in Week 2 than they were in their opener, but ultimately suffered a heartbreaking overtime loss to the Cowboys.

In Week 3, they're in the national spotlight against the Chiefs on Sunday Night Football.

Here are the biggest stories to watch as the Giants look to pull off the major upset in their first home game of the season...

Could this be Abdul Carter's breakout game?

The Chiefs have been struggling to protect Patrick Mahomes in the early part of the season, so New York's defensive front should be optimistic that they can make a big impact.

In particular, rookie Abdul Carter could be primed for a breakout performance.

Carter has been generating good pressure so far this season, but he only has four tackles and half a sack through two games. He also had some negatives with a couple of missed tackles and two penalties in the Dallas game.

If the Giants can pressure Mahomes, who was knocked down nine times by the Eagles in Week 2, they must also try to keep him contained because he's dangerous with his legs. He rushed for a team-high 66 yards and a touchdown against Philadelphia.

Can New York play with more discipline?

The Giants gave up nine penalties for 80 yards in the first half of the Dallas game and weren't any better after halftime, as they gave up another 80 yards on five more penalties. In all, it gifted the Cowboys six first downs.

The chief culprit was starting left tackle James Hudson III, who had four penalties in the space of six plays on a catastrophic opening drive that led to him being yelled at on the sideline and benched for the rest of the game. Rookie Marcus Mbow held up better than Hudson after replacing him, so it seems unlikely Hudson will be in the mix again on Sunday even if Andrew Thomas isn't ready to return.

There were discipline issues on defense as well, though. Four Giants players had more than one penalty, led by Roy Robertson-Harris with three.

How will the Giants handle the injury crisis at linebacker?

With Micah McFaddenalready out for several weeks, the last thing the Giants needed was more injuries at the linebacker position.

But on Sunday, they lost Darius Muasau to a concussion -- and then his replacement Chris Board went down with a chest injury. This forced Swayze Bozeman, who was elevated from the practice squad, into action during overtime, where he gave up a key first down in coverage.

Sep 14, 2025; Arlington, Texas, USA; Dallas Cowboys running back Javonte Williams (33) runs with the ball against New York Giants linebacker Bobby Okereke (58) and defensive end Chauncey Golston (57) during overtime at AT&T Stadium. / Raymond Carlin III-Imagn Images

Thankfully, Bobby Okereke remains healthy. He leads the NFL with 26 combined tackles in the first two games. He's vitally important to a Giants defense that had held Dallas to just three points until late in the first half but ended up giving up 40.

Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles is the only other off-ball linebacker on New York's roster, and he missed Sunday's game with a calf injury.

If they get any more injuries, New York may need to start thinking outside the box by either playing Carter in an off-ball role or running a lot of six-defensive back personnel packages with just one linebacker out there.

Is Cam Skattebo the new number one back?

Tyrone Tracy Jr. rushed for over 800 yards last year and looked like a good bet to have his first thousand-yard season in 2025. However, through two games, he has just 39 rushing yards on 15 carries. In Week 2, rookie Cam Skattebo had over twice as many carries as Tracy, and three times as many yards, with a touchdown.

While Tracy still contributed with four catches -- and was involved in the return game -- this could be a sign that head coach Brian Daboll lacks faith in Tracy's ball security as a lead back. He insisted, though, that it was unrelated to Tracy's criticism on the play calling in the opener.

As for Skattebo, he's a versatile back with good power, and he made a smart play to hustle across and knock the ball out of bounds when Russell Wilson fumbled in overtime. So it will be interesting to see what he can do if he continues to receive opportunities.

Should the Giants keep going deep?

The Giants had good success on deep passes in the Cowboys game, as Wilson completed several of them on his way to career-best single game passing yardage numbers.

Darius Slayton, Wan'Dale Robinson and Malik Nabers all caught passes of 45 yards or longer. Nabers and Robinson each had two more catches, including a touchdown each, on passes longer than 25 yards.

Did Wilson go to the well once too often, though?

His overtime throw to Nabers was easily intercepted by Cowboys safety Donovan Wilson to set up the game-winning field goal. On that play, Nabers ran a corner route as Wilson launched it up for grabs down the middle.

Clearly, the Giants need downfield passing to be a key facet of their offense this season, but they may need to be a bit more selective about when to attack an opportunistic Chiefs secondary.