Kansas City outgained the Eagles 294-216 and held Jalen Hurts to just 101 yards passing, but the Chiefs struggled to move the ball.
Eagles’ offense disjointed under OC Kevin Patullo The Eagles’ offense looks disjointed under first-time offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo.
— Brooks Kubena, Eagles beat writer Unfamiliar territory for 0-2 Chiefs The Chiefs suddenly have an unexpected — and pressing — situation following this season’s 0-2 start.
The Eagles’ offense has much work to do, and the Chiefs’ offense might be in decline.
For the defense, a holding penalty on Quinyon Mitchell that negated a sack and led to a Chiefs touchdown.
By Zach Berman, Bob Harkins, Brooks Kubena, and Jesse Newell.
The Eagles are still the NFL’s team to beat, if Sunday’s Super Bowl rematch between Philadelphia and Kansas City is any guide. After a fierce defensive battle at Arrowhead Stadium, the reigning champions shut down Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs, winning 20–17 last.
The Eagles easily defeated the Chiefs 40–22 in Super Bowl LIX in February, but Sunday’s game was more of a slugfest. Philadelphia kicker Jake Elliott made a 58-yard field goal two seconds before halftime to put the score at 10-10. Jalen Hurts was held to just 101 yards passing by Kansas City, who outscored the Eagles 294–216, but the Chiefs had trouble moving the ball.
Mahomes only finished 16 of 29 passes for 187 yards, including an interception and a touchdown. With just three minutes remaining, Mahomes padded his stats with a touchdown pass to Tyquan Thornton that netted him 49 yards. Mahomes’ legs were Kansas City’s best offensive weapon; he led his team with 66 rushing yards and a touchdown on seven carries.
After losing to the Los Angeles Chargers in a neutral-site game in Brazil to start the season, the Chiefs are now 0–2. This season, the Eagles are now 2-0 and have given up just 37 points.
Under OC Kevin Patullo, the Eagles’ offense was disorganized.
Under new offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo, the Eagles’ offense appears disorganized. Nick Sirianni seemed to decide to try a 52-yard field goal at halftime rather than go for it on fourth-and-1 with two timeouts and the Brotherly Shove in his pocket because they averaged 4 points per play in the first half. It was slightly better in the second half.
Patullo might have been adjusting to the scrutiny of a road loss if it weren’t for a prayer of a third-and-10 completion from Jalen Hurts to DeVonta Smith in the fourth quarter, which went for 28 yards and resulted in a touchdown and two-score lead. — Eagles beat writer Brooks Kubena.
The 0-2 Chiefs are unfamiliar with this area.
After starting 0–2 this season, the Chiefs find themselves in an unexpected and urgent situation.
Yes, if they want to, the Chiefs have a few good reasons for their dismal record. In Brazil, the team faced the formidable Chargers in the first game of the season. Additionally, the Chiefs have been forced to play without three of their best wide receivers: Jalen Royals (knee), Xavier Worthy (shoulder), and Rashee Rice (suspension).
That doesn’t change the team’s current situation.
K. A. for the first time since the 2014 season began the season with a 0–2 record. As a point of comparison, the Chiefs have only once qualified for the playoffs after losing their opening two games in their 15-game history.
Naturally, those former teams were not in the midst of three straight Super Bowl appearances. When the Chiefs travel to play the New York Giants on Sunday Night Football the following week, the schedule at least lightens up a bit.
But now that Week 4 against the Baltimore Ravens is approaching, that almost becomes a must-win.
Obviously, it’s too soon to rule out the Chiefs. Saying that pressure will be on next week to begin turning the season around is still not too early. The beat writer for the Chiefs, Jesse Newell.
The game depends on a big play by a rookie.
In February, a rookie’s interception of Mahomes for a pick-six won the Super Bowl. It was made by Cooper DeJean. Similar circumstances led to Sunday’s victory. As the Chiefs were about to score, Drew Mukuba, in his second NFL game, caught a dropped pass from Travis Kelce. Even though the ball might have floated into Mukuba’s hands, the second-round pick demonstrated a sharp awareness of how to adjust and continued a pattern of learnings that was evident during training camp, which contributed to the Eagles’ initial interest in Mukuba after he left Texas. In addition to the Chiefs’ offense possibly in decline, the Eagles’ offense still has a lot of work to do. It’s still difficult to criticize the Eagles defense, which took over for the majority of the game against Mahomes after losing key starters from the team that won the Super Bowl the year before. Zach Berman, beat writer for the Eagles.
The Chiefs defense recovers.
A week after Justin Herbert of the Chargers blasted the Chiefs secondary, the group made a big response on Sunday.
The K. A. When playing Philadelphia, their coverage was lockdown from the beginning. Among these were the outstanding performances of safety Bryan Cook and cornerbacks Trent McDuffie, Jaylen Watson, and Chamarri Conner.
Even when the Chiefs blitzed, Eagles quarterback Hurts was unable to find many openings. Hurt only managed 62 passing yards in the first three quarters, and the Chiefs’ back-end defenders deserve the most of the credit for that. — Newell.
Jalen Carter gives a huge swing with his big play.
The Philadelphia Eagles take great satisfaction in their ability to do the small things well. If not for one major issue, a number of minor ones could have destroyed the Eagles.
The errors come first. On the first play of the game, Jalen Hurts lost control of the ball while holding it in one hand. The Eagles punted after recovering. The tone for a careless offensive day was set by that. Major plays were canceled because both the offense and defense were penalized. The offense erased a third-and-five Hurts scramble and punted after it. Quinyon Mitchell’s defensive holding penalty negated a sack and allowed the Chiefs to score a touchdown.
And then the big-little thing: Jalen Carter tipped a red-zone pass from Mahomes that changed the trajectory of the football and seemed to make it more difficult for Kelce to catch it, just as the Chiefs were ready to regain the lead. Mukuba, a rookie, intercepted the football after Kelce bobbled it. The game was in a significant swing. After converting the turnover into a touchdown, the Eagles took a two-score lead. Following a victory, Nick Sirianni has the opportunity to make corrections once more. Kubena asked how long the Eagles could keep them.
Kelce made a monumental error.
The Chiefs tight end Kelce’s drop changed the game, and there’s no denying that.
K. A. possessed a chance to take a fourth-quarter lead while driving inside the red zone when quarterback Mahomes attempted a pass over the middle to Kelce, who didn’t seem to be prepared for it. The ball bounced off Kelce’s hands and came flying up to Mukuba, who intercepted it and then returned it 41 yards down the sideline.
It is the kind of mistake that is nearly impossible to recover from in the closing moments of a close game. The Chiefs’ expected win probability dropped from 53 percent to 24 percent for the Kelce drop-turned-interception, which was worth -7 point 1 points, according to the win-probability calculator at rbsdm . com.
Following the game, Kelce’s dejected sideline reaction reflected the situation’s reality: he knew he had let his team down at the worst possible time. Newell.
(Image courtesy of David Eulitt/Getty Images of Jalen Hurts).
