Eagles Postgame Report: Birds Advance To 2-0 With Win Over Kansas City Chiefs

The rematch did not start off the way Eagles fans hoped, with the first play being a pressure where Hurts literally kicked the ball out of his own hands for a fumble. On the bright side, they were able to get some yardage and compete in the field position battle.

Hurts continued to miss open receivers and the run game was atrocious as the defense forced a quick punt and then a long field goal, which was missed to give the team their best field position of the day. The offense finally changed and on a whim the Eagles could once again move the ball 4-5 yards per play at will. It left the Eagles with a 52-yard touchdown drive to get the first points on the board with less than a minute left in the first quarter.

The defense started some blitzes and got more regular pressure, but two chunk plays allowed the Chiefs to come away with a field goal despite the stop. The offense responded with about as garbage of drive as they could with the line taking a holding and false start penalty on just three play to wipe out all the positive yardage the team gained for a quick punt.

The defense allowed far too many 7-8-yard runs before eventually forcing a 4th-and-4 at midfield. They allowed that to convert despite significant pressure on the pass then Andrew Mukuba failed to tackle Mahomes, literally the weakest player on the field, to give up another first down and setup a touchdown run that lost the Eagles the lead.

The Eagles tied it up with another bad offensive drive which included burning a timeout to avoid a penalty, the long snapper taking a penalty, and an egregious 8-yard pass up the middle to stop the clock on third and 9. It was awful management and playcalling, but Elliott bailed them out with a field goal to end the half.

After the half, the Chiefs went for it on fourth and one, but the Eagles defense stood tall and hit the runner behind the line to get the Birds the ball on the KC 35 to start their offensive second half. They quickly squandered it by gaining just two yards and settling for a field goal instead of what should have been the easiest shot a touchdown for either team all day.

After forcing a three-and-out, the offense gained 25 yards on three runs before taking a penalty and Hurts holding the ball too long for a sack to force another punt. DeJean got burned for 23 yards and then another 11 in a few plays and that gave the Chiefs most of the yards they needed for a score – but Travis Kelce gave a gift to the Birds by tapping an easy touchdown pass to Andrew Makuba’s chest for a pick. It almost went for a touchdown, but the KC OT stopped him at 41 yards.

They went to runs and pre-decided plays and the ball started moving, particularly with a 28-yard reception to DeVonta Smith. They may have lost the challenge on the first tush push, but they ultimately got into the end zone to put themselves up two scores in the back half of the fourth quarter.

A quick three-and-out from the defense set the Eagles up and allowed them to pound the run game. With one first down, the Birds were able to burn 2:25 of clock and, more importantly, all three of the Chiefs timeouts in the half before they punted it back. The Chiefs missed an easy touchdown pass on a play Reed Blankenship wiped out Adoree’ Jackson, but they were literally gifted new life by a “roughing the passer” where the extent of the infraction was Jihaad Campbell’s finger being long enough to touch Mahomes’ helmet when he ducked into the tackler. That setup a new set of downs and they did not miss when Quinyon Mitchell lost a step, giving up a 49-yard touchdown.

Going for the onside kick, the Eagles had AJ Brown successfully recover the ball to setup the Eagles at the KC 41. Saquon had a nine-yard run so the Chiefs gave up the first down on an intentional penalty, but the Birds denied that to maintain the clock. A tush push moved the chains and took the clock down to 2:00. The tush push again moved the ball after virtual measurement determined the previous play was six inches shy, but they had enough on the second play and got the first down to allow them to run out the clock.

The Eagles start the season 2-0 with one of their toughest tests of the season under their belt already. They will host the Rams next Sunday.

Offensive MVP: DeVonta Smith

It was between Smith or Barkley, but Smith had the big 28-yard grab. He may not have found the endzone, but his catch on that 50-50 designed ball was what got Hurts his touchdown. Smith was inactive for large parts of the game – and when he didn’t get targets is when the offense got no points and had to punt the ball away. When they involved him early, they scored. When they went back to him late, they scored. Perhaps we keep that mind going forward.

Defensive MVP: Jihaad Campbell

Campbell was tagged with a bogus penalty which should never have been called. Otherwise, he was an effective backer in tackling and in the pass defense. He had tackles, five solo – good for second-most on the team – and several pressures.

If you wanted Andrew Makuba here, your real defensive MVP would be Travis Kelce, because that’s who really made that play.

Game Notes

• It seemed like forcing the ball to AJ Brown was an early focus of the game and it really did not work at all. It seemed to force the ball to Brown and Barkley – exactly where the defense was looking for it and that focus seemed to styme the offense as a whole.
• AJ Dillon looked very good as the backup to Barkley, so far looking like everything the team could possibly hope for from him.
• There was little to no rush lane integrity when the Cheifs were effective – their biggest drives and plays were setup by Mahomes being able to run 15 yards with no defender getting anywhere near him.
• All these people have spent weeks complaining about Adoree’ Jackson, but I have yet to see anyone complaining about Andrew Mukuba, who gave up around 3-5 catches, completed no positive plays, and missed at least two tackles in the first half. That can’t be a serious player moving forward if things don’t improve and the goal is to actually win games. Luckily, he did improve in the second half and he didn’t drop the gift Travis Kelce dropped (literally) right into his lap.
• Za’Darius Smith evidently did not need much of a ramp up as he played heavy snaps immediately this week.
• There appear to be issues with Hurts finding receivers again. There were multiple times he had 7+ seconds and didn’t throw a real pass – you won’t convince me that none of AJ Brown, DeVonta Smith, or Jahan Dotson is able to get open in that time. It means Hurts is missing his opportunities.
• AJ Brown should have had a first down on the Eagles final drive of the second half. It was a poor play/decision, but he should have gotten the first for rolling over a defender which was mysteriously not reviewed and somehow missed by every ref.
• Sydney Brown was benched for a rookie, who didn’t do so well himself, but still made sure people knew he was there by committing penalties on special teams.
• Jalen Carter should have been pulled. He played way too many snaps for a guy who wasn’t making an impact and was clearly injured between plays – not sure why they left him out there when they had Byron Young come up so big last week.

Injury Notes

• Adoree’ Jackson exited the field in the second quarter. He did return.
• Jalen Carter went down and did not come out, but seemed far less effective and held his arm after most plays, clearly injured.
• DeVonta Smith went down with a back injury but didn’t miss a snap (since they had to settle for a field goal).
• Jordan Davis went down at the start of the fourth quarter. He did return at times with what appeared to be a hamstring issue.

Philadelphia Eagles @ Kansas City Chiefs – September 14, 2025