Ike Taylor predicts Giants will upset Chiefs in “trap game”
By Matt Conner
The Kansas City Chiefs are heavily favored to beat the New York Giants on Sunday for good reason, but Ike Taylor says not so fast.
Betting odds opened at 13 points in favor of the Kansas City Chiefs. The New York Giants only have a single win on the season. Eli Manning is facing rumors that he might be finished as the Giants starting quarterback after this season, and head coach Ben McAdoo might not even make it that long. The franchise might also clean house top to bottom, including the front office. In other words, there’s very little reason for the Giants to suit up on Sunday afternoon, let alone for anyone to believe they might actually show some life when they host the Chiefs.
Those factors, however, are the very facets that make up the proverbial trap game, a notion that an overlooked opponent is often the most dangerous one. That’s not to say that the Chiefs aren’t paying attention to the Giants, because they would be poorly coached if so, but that hasn’t stopped Ike Taylor, former NFL cornerback turned writer for NFL.com, into believing the Chiefs are in trouble this weekend despite how lopsided this match-up looks on paper.
"TRAP GAME ALERT! And the Chiefs are victim to it. The Giants find some motivation and big plays, and they stun Andy Reid (who is 16-2 after a bye week) and the Chiefs by three."
Stun would be the right word there if the Giants win. Everyone would likely not even know what to say. Rather Chiefs Chiefs would sit in stunned silence before shaking their heads at the reality of losing to a single-win team right after having two weeks to prepare for the second half.
If the first five weeks showed the NFL that the Chiefs have no ceiling, that this roster can literally defeat any single team it wants, then the last four weeks have shown the floor is much lower than believed. A loss to the Giants would remove it outright.
Here’s hoping Ike Taylor is smoking something or just making up ideas for a column titled “Bold Predictions.”