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Especially when the Chiefs were .

But on a team with stars such as Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce, it was unheralded Tyquan Thornton who came up big in New York on Sunday night. The 2022 second-round pick of the New England Patriots, who is getting a fresh start in Kansas City, made a series of crucial catches to help the Chiefs to a desperately needed .

There was the 33-yard grab on third-and-10. The 21-yarder on third-and-6. And the 5-yard touchdown catch on third-and-3, which gave the Chiefs a 16-6 lead midway through the third quarter 鈥� the kind of breathing room they haven’t had all season.

鈥淗e’s showing some things,鈥� Chiefs coach Andy Reid said. 鈥淚 know JuJu (Smith-Schuster) spoke highly of him when he was with the Patriots, and (former Patriots coach) Bill Belichick had compliments. And he’s come in here and done nothing but work hard.鈥�

That work is paying off. Thornton finished with a career-high five catches for 71 yards and the touchdown in New York.

It’s been a nice turnaround for Thornton after three disappointing years in New England. The former Baylor speedster played in just 28 games and had 39 catches for 385 yards and two touchdowns, both during his 2022 rookie season.

He already has nine catches for 171 yards and two scores with Kansas City this season.

鈥淚 mean, practice reps became game reality,鈥� Thornton said. 鈥淵ou go out there, you work at the little things, you challenge yourself, you don’t shy away from it. You go out there on Sunday and you give yourself a chance.鈥�

Now, the Chiefs are halfway through Rice’s six-game suspension for violating the NFL’s personal conduct policy, and there is a chance that Worthy plays on Sunday against Baltimore after he practiced in full late last week. And with their first win behind them, Thornton and the Chiefs feel a whole lot better about their prospects going forward.

鈥淲e were better together. We’d had too many mistakes 鈥� one thing here, one thing there. Some of that can be that you’re just trying too hard at times and dumb things can happen,鈥� Reid said. 鈥淓verything’s about execution on the opposite side, but you have everybody doing it. I have to make sure I get them in the right position to do those things. Team effort, but everybody has to come together on that, and I thought they did a better job.鈥�

What鈥檚 working

The Chiefs secondary struggled against the Chargers’ Justin Herbert in a season-opening loss in Brazil. But it played better against the Eagles in Week 2 and shut down the Giants on Sunday. The group picked off Russell Wilson twice and held Giants star Malik Nabers to two catches on seven targets for just 13 yards.

鈥淭hey鈥檝e been playing great these past two weeks, playing winning football,鈥� Mahomes said. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e playing tight coverage, they are rushing, they are blitzing. They鈥檙e doing all type of different stuff that you鈥檙e supposed to do as a winning defense.鈥�

What needs help

Offensive consistency, especially in the red zone. The Chiefs were effective in the second half Sunday, scoring two touchdowns, but that came after a first half in which they were held to just three field goals.

Stock up

George Karlaftis is living up to the four-year, $93 million extension he signed in July. He had four quarterback hits, three tackles for loss, a sack and a pass defensed to go with eight total tackles in the win over the Giants.

Stock down

Harrison Butker missed a 40-yard field-goal try in the second quarter and an extra-point attempt in the fourth. The NFL’s highest-paid kicker has already missed two field goals and two PATs this season.

Injuries

The Chiefs sustained no serious injuries in the game.

Key number

245 鈥� That’s the number of yards passing the Chiefs have allowed total in games against the Eagles and Giants.

Next steps

The Chiefs have another marquee matchup against the Ravens on Sunday.

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AP NFL: