These are the games that build the championship pedigree. These are the ones when, just at the time you think things are going right, the best team finds a way to win. That’s what the Eagles did on Sunday, besting the Kansas City Chiefs, 20-17, in Kansas City to move to 2-0 for the season.
The Eagles toughed it out. Players were out on the field on a hot, humid day – limping, banged up. Didn’t matter. A sweet win all the way around.
“These are the kinds of games that show you who you are,” quarterback Jalen Hurts said after the game. “We played complementary football and we can look back and say that we learned from this one, as you do every game, and it’s always better to look back and learn from a win. Today was a perfect example of overcoming adversity.”
1. Once again, the D takes it away in red zone
As was the case in Week 1 against Dallas when the Eagles stifled a Cowboys’ drive with a forced fumble and recovery, the D did it again on Sunday with Kansas City driving in the fourth quarter, trailing 13-10. Quarterback Patrick Mahomes threw on the right side to tight end Travis Kelce on a stick route he has run a million times, but this time the ball bounced off Kelce’s hands with safety Reed Blankenship in tight coverage and landed in the hands of safety Andrew Mukuba. After bumping into Blankenship, Mukuba headed up the left sideline for 41 yards. Mukuba recovered the Miles Sanders fumble in Week 1 and once again came up big here. Head Coach Nick Sirianni said in the preseason that “the ball finds his hands,” and that’s been the case in the first two weeks of the season. Huge, huge takeaway for the defense. More on that group later.
2. After the takeaway, the Eagles put the ball in the end zone
The entire game was a struggle for both offenses with few down-the-field highlights. But the Eagles came up with a big one when, on a third-and-10 and the Chiefs blitzing, Hurts lofted a rainbow up to the right side for wide receiver DeVonta Smith, lined up in the slot against cornerback Trent McDuffie, one of the best in the league at his position. Smith beat the handfighting and made the catch at the 3-yard line for a first down. Four plays later, Hurts and the offense executed the Tush Push and the Eagles held a 20-10 advantage.
3. Setting the tone on third offensive drive
The first couple of Eagles offensive possessions were feel-it-out stuff, and then the Eagles stepped it up on possession No. 3. After a Harrison Butker missed 58-yard field goal, the Eagles put together an 8-play, 52-yard drive that included a little bit of everything. The Eagles countered a Kansas City blitz with a 6-yard completion to Smith for 6 yards to set up a Tush Push conversion. Saquon Barkley gained 4 yards on first down from there and then Hurts threw to Smith on the left side for a screen that was well blocked – shout out to Jordan Mailata, among others – for a 13-yard gain and a first down to the Kansas City 24-yard line. A couple of A.J. Dillon runs – a swing pass/lateral left that gained 5 yards and a run right for 6 yards moved the ball to the 13-yard line – and then Barkley ran right through a nice hole to put the ball in the end zone.